ABSTRACT
The ‘Docklands Village’ precinct occupied the most central location in the Docklands, filling the gap between the railway station on the city grid and the harbour. Slated since the late 1980s as a residential and commercial mixed-use precinct, it never went to tender as such. The idea for a sports and concert stadium with a retractable roof in the Docklands first emerged in 1994 and was brought to fruition as the first real contract for the Docklands in 1996–97. The key market was to be the local Australian Football League (AFL) code, which draws an average of 40 000 people to each of its games during the winter. The proposal, which had been mooted for several sites around Melbourne, was for a stadium of 52 000 people. While the stadium is a private project it was a deal that was initially stitched together between the state and the AFL administrators before tenders were called from developers. This was to be the kick-start that Docklands badly needed. In 1996 the ‘Docklands Village’ precinct was chosen as the site, and the development was put out to tender. About 27 matches per year were to be moved to Docklands from other venues in order to guarantee the base revenue stream.
