He was speaking after attending Parramatta Council’s workshop on the impact of the three-year Pirtek Stadium’s 30,000 seat upgrade on Parramatta businesses.
“About 70 people attended the workshop to talk about the impact on loss of trade when games are not being played at Parramatta plus what impact there will be when the stadium opens,” Mr Mekhitarian said.
“Not many people in hospitality attended, which is a pity as they will be impacted the most. There will be more workshops so hope they will attend those.”
Mr Mekhitarian said that options discussed included having shuttle buses take fans to and from the Parramatta dining precinct to attend games that will be at ANZ Stadium while the stadium is out of action.
“That way, people can still dine in Parramatta before and after the games at Olympic Park so our businesses do not suffer too much,” he said.
“One of the things we found out was that there are now 23 to 25 matches a year played at Pirtek and after reconstruction, there will be about 45 and it will be for rugby league, rugby and soccer. But it will not just be for sport, as there will be facilities for conferences as well.”
Mr Mekhitarian said that during construction there will be an impact on parking. He said the workshop also discussed building on existing events such as Parramasala to continue bringing visitors to Parramatta while the stadium was being upgraded.
Three private sector consortia have been shortlisted to build the new stadium by 2019.
They are Brookfield Mulitplex, John Holland and Lendlease. The winning consortium will be announced later this year.
In the meantime, the Department of Planning and Environment seeks views on the proposal, which includes five levels of box and terrace seating with facilities, 500 parking spots and 20,000 square metres set aside for future entertainment and community use.
Views the plans at City of Parramatta Council or Parramatta Heritage and Visitor Information Centre by August 19. Details:
www.majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au
