Claims the Awatea St stadium will not have conference spaces, or that it will not have the facilities necessary for conference events are wrong, Carisbrook Stadium Trust chairman Malcolm Farry says.
"How anybody could be making statements conference facilities are no longer included in the development is absolutely beyond me," he said.
Dunedin city councillors Dave Cull, Chris Staynes and Kate Wilson said in an opinion piece in the Otago Daily Times yesterday conference facilities, originally part of the stadium project, had been "deleted".
Asked where he got that information, Cr Staynes said he understood from trust briefings in June an area that was going to be turned into an enclosed area for the purpose, no longer was.
Asked whether that was the case, Mr Farry said he could not understand how the trust's briefings could be so misinterpreted.
He also dismissed concerns raised by Dunedin conference organiser Ali Copeman, who said the stadium would not be suitable for conferences, as it would lack basic facilities.
"The building itself will have considerable spaces suitable for conferences, meetings and social functions," Mr Farry said.
As well, there would be break-out spaces necessary for conferences that could hold between 100 and 1000 people in a project designed "with a huge focus on flexibility".
A Horwath HTL report to the trust last year concluded the stadium had a role to play in the conference market, but it was likely to be a support venue, rather than the city's primary venue.
The report concluded the stadium was likely to attract "a relatively low level of activity compared to the Dunedin Centre".
But Mr Farry said the trust did not agree with that conclusion.
He expected the stadium to be "a significant player" in the conference, meeting and function market.
"It's a very important part of the whole project," he said, though that should be understood in the context of the city council owning the stadium, Dunedin Centre and Edgar Centre.
The stadium conference facilities could host events from the Halberg Sports Awards to law conferences.
akB Conference Management Ltd director Ali Copeman said at a meeting to discuss the Dunedin Centre upgrade this week there would be a cost for conference organisers to set up in the stadium.
Asked to expand on those remarks yesterday, she said she had been to a recent meeting where the trust promoted its conference space and most people attending were amazed by what they heard.
Up until that point, she had fully supported the stadium, having thought facilities there would suit her purposes.
But the meeting was told the space to be used would be in the stadium, where 5000 temporary seats would be removed and the area isolated: "In other words, the Edgar Centre."
There would be no carpet and no audio-visual facilities, which meant there would be cost for "dressing" the space, providing things like carpets and wall hangings.
As well, the height of the roof would be "huge".
Ms Copeman said the space would be no use for a conference.
Mr Farry responded that while some parts of the facility would not have floor covering, many would.
While it would not have "every audio-visual device that's available" at the conference facility, some elements would be owned and hired out.
Even the Dunedin Centre would have to hire specific equipment needed for conferences, he said"We will have the basic stuff."
