As a regular poster who has pushed for the demise of the bowling club I am over the moon regarding the the club’s recent announcement. At last I will be allowed the watch footy from that south western corner of the ground and not be stymied and denied by a few privileged bowlers. My only hope is that all this redevelopment will be completed before I have shuffled off this mortal coil.
News Alberton Oval Redevelopment
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Ford Fairlane
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- Feb 21, 2002
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Pretty cool. Most other clubs don't bother with their suburban grounds.
RussellEbertHandball
Flick pass expert
Its not permanent it wont be there after a few games.
Appeared to be one in the mock up of the next stage development.
RussellEbertHandball
Flick pass expert
That will get named after Russell Ebert for the Bowling Club area.
Its not official, but the club has said they will acknowledge Russell at Alberton as part of the redevelopment. So I assume a stand not a statue, as there is one at Adelaide Oval.
- Jan 14, 2008
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Russell Ebert Precinct
There are two little open air stands in the next stage design where those temporary stands are now unless I imagined it.
- Nov 5, 2015
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The GOAT deserves a stand and a statue.
- Nov 5, 2015
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You are going to hell for even mentioning those two names in the same sentence
RussellEbertHandball
Flick pass expert
They only have 4 or 5 rows of seats in the renders. I took them as what a temporary stand might look like. The two they have set up looks like 11 or 12 rows of seats.
RussellEbertHandball
Flick pass expert
Koch talked a little bit about the next stage of the redevelopment at the AGM and I chatted to him and Richo after the AGM about it as well.
The Bowling Club redevelopment will start sometime in early 2026.
The club will pay off the $1.89m bank debt in 2025. The debt was $3mil in 2007 and represented having to borrow monies to build the Alan Scott HQ in 2 phases over a decade, and paying off the $4mil licence fee, the first time, $400k a year over 10 years as well as help run the business over a decade in the AFL.
Then the shit hit the fan post 2007 GF debacle and between 2008-14 we made accumulated losses of $9mil and the debt blew out to $8mil, we kept it at that level whilst interest rates were low, then it blew out to $12.5m in 2020 due to covid.
Once we start the new redevelopment we will go into debt again at sometime, but at least there will be an income producing asset built from that debt, not funding losses and a licence fee, and as the club will probably get another $20m-$25m of government grants and AFL capital grants, so we might borrow as much as $8-$10mil to complete it.
In 2025 the club will start building the AFLW programs new change rooms. Richo told me it will be where the original entrance was and the car park in front of it is. I think the entrance is now via the MG Centre side entrance between the old building and new one.
I asked Richo what will happen to the existing change rooms under the Williams stand, that the W program now uses, and he said part of the AFL funding we have received for the redevelopment and will get for the new change rooms, is that they said the oppo W teams get to use them.
I asked what about the current oppo change rooms with the cold showers and he said the SANFL oppo clubs will still be using them, they wont get to use the ones the AFLW oppo teams will get to use.
As JimmyBC alluded to above, they are building stands on the eastern side, but they wont be as big as the temporary ones that were there during the W season. Part of the reason to build them, is so that families can have a seat, the kids go and use the activation activities on the soccer pitch and can then come back and have a seat with their folks and watch some footy.
When the last question was called for, Richo on the mike said, REH you surely must have a question, you always ask financial questions at the AGM.
I said my one question is about the revaluation of Alberton Oval - the 3 page financials we got said the revaluation of land and buildings $19.827m and memorabilia was revalued for $190k.
I asked how do you get a $20m revaluation after you have just spent $30m? Was that by independent property consultants valuation, or was it a shonky CBUS Industry Super type valuation (of all the construction jobs they fund to help members keep their jobs in construction and give their 11% super contribution to CBUS and are are always revaluing those properties after a couple of years so they can tell there members they have made a great rate of return for them).
Before I got the chance to add - or did we get a shit load of work done for mates rates - Koch said that the whole precinct was independently revalued and there hadn't been any revaluation for a long time. I didn't follow up as I and the rest of the crowd wanted to get to the bar, but we did do a revaluation of in 2018 and 2019.
Speaking to both Koch and Richo about it at the bar, there are several reasons why the valuation was so large;
* the quality of the work done was more than the $30mil cash spent as we did get a lot of stuff done at mates rates. I didn't get an $$$ figure answer, but I reckon we got several million dollars of steel for bugger all from GFG to build the big shed on the eastern side.
* the council did give Port the land to build the big shed and the new cark parking area, and that was part of the land swap with the land and building the club had at Ethelton. The soccer pitch area belongs to the council and we lease that.
* part of the valuation took into account current construction costs and the replacement value to those buildings we own, especially the Port Club/Quinn Stand which was undervalued in the books.
* this independent valuation will be used when negotiating with the banks to provide security to them, when we borrow monies for the Bowling Club redevelopment.
The Bowling Club redevelopment will start sometime in early 2026.
The club will pay off the $1.89m bank debt in 2025. The debt was $3mil in 2007 and represented having to borrow monies to build the Alan Scott HQ in 2 phases over a decade, and paying off the $4mil licence fee, the first time, $400k a year over 10 years as well as help run the business over a decade in the AFL.
Then the shit hit the fan post 2007 GF debacle and between 2008-14 we made accumulated losses of $9mil and the debt blew out to $8mil, we kept it at that level whilst interest rates were low, then it blew out to $12.5m in 2020 due to covid.
Once we start the new redevelopment we will go into debt again at sometime, but at least there will be an income producing asset built from that debt, not funding losses and a licence fee, and as the club will probably get another $20m-$25m of government grants and AFL capital grants, so we might borrow as much as $8-$10mil to complete it.
In 2025 the club will start building the AFLW programs new change rooms. Richo told me it will be where the original entrance was and the car park in front of it is. I think the entrance is now via the MG Centre side entrance between the old building and new one.
I asked Richo what will happen to the existing change rooms under the Williams stand, that the W program now uses, and he said part of the AFL funding we have received for the redevelopment and will get for the new change rooms, is that they said the oppo W teams get to use them.
I asked what about the current oppo change rooms with the cold showers and he said the SANFL oppo clubs will still be using them, they wont get to use the ones the AFLW oppo teams will get to use.
As JimmyBC alluded to above, they are building stands on the eastern side, but they wont be as big as the temporary ones that were there during the W season. Part of the reason to build them, is so that families can have a seat, the kids go and use the activation activities on the soccer pitch and can then come back and have a seat with their folks and watch some footy.
When the last question was called for, Richo on the mike said, REH you surely must have a question, you always ask financial questions at the AGM.
I said my one question is about the revaluation of Alberton Oval - the 3 page financials we got said the revaluation of land and buildings $19.827m and memorabilia was revalued for $190k.
I asked how do you get a $20m revaluation after you have just spent $30m? Was that by independent property consultants valuation, or was it a shonky CBUS Industry Super type valuation (of all the construction jobs they fund to help members keep their jobs in construction and give their 11% super contribution to CBUS and are are always revaluing those properties after a couple of years so they can tell there members they have made a great rate of return for them).
Before I got the chance to add - or did we get a shit load of work done for mates rates - Koch said that the whole precinct was independently revalued and there hadn't been any revaluation for a long time. I didn't follow up as I and the rest of the crowd wanted to get to the bar, but we did do a revaluation of in 2018 and 2019.
Speaking to both Koch and Richo about it at the bar, there are several reasons why the valuation was so large;
* the quality of the work done was more than the $30mil cash spent as we did get a lot of stuff done at mates rates. I didn't get an $$$ figure answer, but I reckon we got several million dollars of steel for bugger all from GFG to build the big shed on the eastern side.
* the council did give Port the land to build the big shed and the new cark parking area, and that was part of the land swap with the land and building the club had at Ethelton. The soccer pitch area belongs to the council and we lease that.
* part of the valuation took into account current construction costs and the replacement value to those buildings we own, especially the Port Club/Quinn Stand which was undervalued in the books.
* this independent valuation will be used when negotiating with the banks to provide security to them, when we borrow monies for the Bowling Club redevelopment.
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- Mar 10, 2014
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Need to get a life sized bronze statue of him to place in front of it first before we can build a stand.
- Mar 10, 2014
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FTFY
- Mar 10, 2014
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Ebert Oval
Thanks REH for your comprehensive missive about the next lot of capital improvements at our beloved Alberton Oval. From your post there would appear to be 3 new developments.
The first one would be the Port Women’s change rooms and after reading your post I sort of worked out that the change rooms, etc will be built in the north eastern pocket of AO (roughly where the Port cheer squad now setup)and that the main grand entrance to the whole Port organization will be from 7th Avenue.
Secondly, a new permanent stand is to be built where the temporary stands were - let’s called the stand “the old score board stand”. It will be a bit smaller than the previous temporary stands and perhaps at the back they will set up concession counters.
And lastly the long awaited “bowling club development, which will be a stand plus offices, etc
Love to hear that the opposition SANFL clubs will still be going to cold showers after the game although I always thought that was only a myth.
Anything about the development of my beloved Alberton Oval excites me and I only hope that these developments will be completed before I’m put in a box.
The first one would be the Port Women’s change rooms and after reading your post I sort of worked out that the change rooms, etc will be built in the north eastern pocket of AO (roughly where the Port cheer squad now setup)and that the main grand entrance to the whole Port organization will be from 7th Avenue.
Secondly, a new permanent stand is to be built where the temporary stands were - let’s called the stand “the old score board stand”. It will be a bit smaller than the previous temporary stands and perhaps at the back they will set up concession counters.
And lastly the long awaited “bowling club development, which will be a stand plus offices, etc
Love to hear that the opposition SANFL clubs will still be going to cold showers after the game although I always thought that was only a myth.
Anything about the development of my beloved Alberton Oval excites me and I only hope that these developments will be completed before I’m put in a box.
And there is more to come that Koch said he will be announcing at next year's AGM.
They have some genuinely big off field plans that will set up the future of the club forever.
I did congratulate Richo on the financial results as a but of a peace offering after grilling him about member control (and wanted to do the same for Koch but he was pretty swamped).
Richo smirked and said "yeah but none cares about that" obviously referencing the frustration about on field results.
I was sure to tell him that I care. This stuff is super important for the long term of the club and for the club my kids and grand kids will support.
I think it is important for them to understand that we aren't just endlessly critical. Credit where it is due, the off field stuff is genuinely very impressive.
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Correct, there are 3 types of fans at Port. Whingers, Hapoy Clappers and Port People, it’s easy to get Port People and Whingers confused. Port People give and take, may grow to detest a whipping boy, but can provide sound logic behind ‘frustrations’. Whingers just whinge and are usually overly emotionally invested in their gripe.
Working towards a 10k capacity
I reckon the AFLW will get there within the build time frames
I reckon the AFLW will get there within the build time frames
RussellEbertHandball
Flick pass expert
If we finish the minor round 1st and win the QF and PF, then the GF will be at Alberton. Can't use AO during cricket season and there is nowhere else we will try and play it at.
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