The Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA) is planning to turn the tennis venue into a multi-purpose facility by adding a roof, upgrading the change rooms and the corporate facilities.
In a $50 million project, SOPA has commissioned BVN Architects to design a roof for the 11,000-seat Olympic tennis facility.
In a statement to Fairfax Media, BVN Architects practice director Ross Seymour said, “We looked at not just a closing roof for tennis, but actually what it would take to get it as a multi-purpose stadium.
“Once it has a roof you can take basketball and netball events. I believe there’s a lot of support from the potential users. Netball, basketball and obviously Tennis NSW are behind this. It would take some support from the state government in terms of funding.
“That $50 million budget doesn’t just include the roof, it’s also to update some of the base building facilities.
“Because it would be used for a team sport like basketball or netball, you would need to update the change rooms and the number of change rooms.
“The idea is that it will also take events, so things like green rooms and capabilities to cater for performers. It’s a reasonably minor part of the $50 million budget but it’s an important component of ensuring it’s a quality multi-purpose arena,” said Seymour.
Plans are still in the early stages but Seymour said it could be ready for the 2018 Sydney International.
