An artist's impression of a new Auckland stadium (file photo). Photo: RNZ / Supplied
There is no clear favourite yet for the super-city's multi-purpose national stadium, an Auckland councillor says.
A working group met behind closed doors on Monday to discuss the four proposals, but whether it will be revamping Eden Park or building a new stadium at the waterfront was unknown. The challenge will be to do so with little-to-no ratepayer money.
The three different proposals for a waterfront stadium include a 50,000 seat facility at Quay Park favoured by New Zealand Rugby, a sunken stadium that could fit 70,000 at Bledisloe Wharf or a 55,000 seat venue at Wynyard Point.
The working group has decided for the governing body to vote on an option on 30 May.
Stadium venues' working group chairperson and councillor Shane Henderson said the projects have been ranked but he will not reveal more, insisting there was no clear favourite yet.
"I think there are multiple options that will be presenting to councillors, and saying, look, these have come out highly in the ranking system and let's have a bit of a yarn about it," he said.
The council has made it clear it has no money for the project.
Henderson said it hoped to attract investors.
The plan for Eden Park includes a new stand and a retractable roof. Photo: Supplied
"Ultimately what I want to do is to give confidence to the market, there are people out there that are brilliant at raising capital, there are people out there that are brilliant at building or developing stadiums, and the message that we have as a council when we pass this vote is that we're going to back this process," he said.
Once the vote has been passed, Auckland Council will ask central government to help fund the stadium.
Despite the current hard economic times, some Aucklanders said they liked the idea of a big, new stadium in the central city.
Matty Srhoj said a waterfront venue would bring energy to the CBD.
"I think a central city stadium would be fantastic and good for the city, obviously I know that with current economic conditions it might seem out of touch, but I think overall it'll be a good thing," he said.
Srhoj added that a central city venue was the better option as Eden Park disturbed nearby residents and had a limited number of events it could host each year.
Harpreet Gill said the city needed a much bigger venue for concerts which would attract major overseas stars.
"The thing is people are still paying for concerts, my daughter wanted to go for a SZA concert and make me pay $300, $400 for that, there are a lot of big artists internationally who couldn't come ... it would've added to our economy," she said.
Nina Cohen, who moved to Auckland from London three months ago, said a better stadium was a worthwhile investment.
"Auckland investing in itself will make a big difference on the global stage. I think that sport, art, infrastructure, community, are the things people look for when they want to move here, and they want to see that kind of investment," she said.
Meanwhile, others like Amy Laing were worried that regardless of the location, the city's transport system was not ready for a mega-stadium.
"We can't even support Mt Smart, we can't even support Eden Park, like it seems like every time there is a game or something on at those stadiums the transport facilities are like - 'oh we're taking a break, we're doing whatever'.
"But also there's so much traffic and there's so much construction already in the city that if we were to put the stadium there, I know it's going to take several years to build that up," she said.