Dunedin Venues Management Ltd yesterday revealed plans for a capacity-reduction system at Forsyth Barr Stadium, expected to be in play by summer.
Using a series of retractable curtains, the system will create a scalable indoor environment for events with crowds from 3000 to the maximum capacity of 38,000, as reported by the Otago Daily Times last week.
Chief executive Paul Doorn said the changes would address the ‘‘Goldilocks problem’’ Dunedin faced — the city was well placed for small and large events, but missed out on hosting increasing popular mid-sized events.
‘‘The capacity reduction system will actually drive much better conversations with people about saying, ‘What’s the act or artist or sporting event that you’ve got ... and how can I shape the stadium to be the right size for the right people?’.
‘‘It just creates greater versatility,’’ he said.
DVML also announced a 10-year partnership with Ticketek, which would become the exclusive ticketing partner for the stadium and the Dunedin Centre.
Mr Doorn declined to reveal the cost of the new system, but said Ticketek had made a ‘‘large’’ contribution.
‘‘I think people should see the fact that they’re willing to help invest in it as being a really important part of the initiative.’’
The intention was to finish detailed design work in the coming months, with installation due before Christmas and the system in use by acts touring in the new year.
‘‘It’s a complicated and really innovative design ... growing the grass and getting sunlight to the grass is still a critical component,’’ Mr Doorn said.
‘‘You’ll see some high-tensile wire running across the stadium that are part of the levers to be able to lift things up and down.
‘‘But other than that, I think it’ll still be a very clean roof.’’
There would be a learning curve regarding the curtains and acoustics, Mr Doorn said.
‘‘We actually will be spending some really quality time making sure we try to maximise the use of the curtains, the floor space and the sound to make it a really good fan experience.’’
He said the Dunedin City Council gave its support to the project during a non-public section of Wednesday’s council meeting.
