The Garden of Eden

It's been around 15 years since we last watched a test match of any description at Eden Park. So we were interested to read the account of its pre-RWC face-lift this this morning. In actual fact, it's not so much a face-lift as Extreme Makeover; Eden Park Edition! Anyway, the Herald waxes lyrical:

While enjoying the sweeping views over the redeveloped Eden Park from the top tier of the new South Stand, it's easy to feel a little weak at the knees.

At their highest point, the general admission seats are about 30m from the ground, which could have those suffering from vertigo wishing for something a bit lower.

It's unlikely they will, though, because not only does the new stand mean they will stay dry, they will have the added bonus of vistas of the North Shore and the Waitakere Ranges and to the south.

"These probably are the highest seats in the country," says Eden Park chief executive David Kennedy, who yesterday gave media a tour of the park. "As you can see, the views are pretty good."

Also good is the ease of movement into and around the park, something Mr Kennedy is sure match-goers will notice when they arrive for the double-header Four Nations rugby league test matches on November 6 - the first big test of the ground's new facilities.

Electronic ticketing means fans swipe their barcoded tickets at one of four main plazas at each corner of the park, which replace the 27 gates that once dotted the ground.

"Everything about the whole entry is smoother, faster and calmer," said Mr Kennedy.

"Irrespective of where you are sitting, you can get on the concourse and get to wherever your seat is in the stands much more easily than in the past."

Inside, a wide and spacious concourse links the entire park, starting at Walters Ave, wrapping around the west stand through the south stand and under the second tier of the new east stand to link with the existing ASB Stand concourse.

Mr Kennedy said it would take about 10 minutes to walk the perimeter of the 1km concourse "at a leisurely stroll".

The concourse also has a seemingly endless line of food and beverage stalls - or one for every 300 fans - that are supplied by a monster kitchen, the second largest in Auckland.

And while the concourse also allows for mostly uninhibited views of the ground, fans won't miss out on any action with more than 300 internal television monitors linked to the ground's two 110sq m super screens.

Critics of Eden Park will always argue that the old girl should have been torn down and replaced with a new, purpose-built stadium. There's a bit of merit to that argument, but the powers-that-be who run Eden Park have come up with a pretty good finished product. Sure, it's still out in the 'burbs and away from the emtertainment precinct, and getting there isn't easy.

On the other hand though, it IS Eden Park. It's been the sight of some of our proudest sporting moments, and some of the most controversial. The old girl has tangible history; the site of our first cricket test win (vs the West Indies, 1956), the place where Peter Jones scored THAT try against the Springboks in 1956, the "flourbomb test" of 1981, and of course, the one place where New Zealand has won a Rugby World Cup. We're quite glad that Eden Park hasn't succumbed to the bulldozers and become a retirement village like its sister stadium in Wellington.

Even sceptical commentators such as Willie Lose from Newstalk ZB are impressed with the almost-finished product, so it must be good! We've just seen the plans for the temporary hospitality paviliion on the telly, and can only wish that we were amongst the "high value individuals" it will be catering for next year. Ah well; there's always Lotto!