Daily Telegraph, Sydney - 13th December 2000
ST GEORGE Illawarra could play home games at a new-look Barton Park if a proposed $100 million redevelopment of the Rockdale site goes ahead.
The St George Soccer Association, which has set its sights on being admitted to the National Soccer League within three years, has put forward the exciting plan.
The soccer association, which holds a lease on the ground, recently approached the Dragons to see if they would be interested in becoming tenants at the stadium.
"They asked us to confirm in principle our agreement to playing there if the facilities were up to standard and, of course, we jumped at the opportunity," Dragons chief executive Peter Doust revealed last night.
"Why wouldn't we want to play our Sydney games in the St George area as long as that venue meets the criteria of the NRL, and is an adequate facility for our supporters and corporate supporters?"
The new stadium would have a capacity of 20,000 and would include a club, with the total package believed to cost between $80-100 million.
The Barton Park proposal was put to a meeting of the St George football club members on Tuesday night.
"They were very excited about it and, in fact, were keen to get behind it," Doust said.
He said for the first time in a long time there was an opportunity for all the St George stakeholders to get behind an option which would see the team play games at an adequate facility in the St George area.
"It is an exciting proposal," Doust said. "There has been talk about it for some time and a lot of people have said it was a pipe dream. "If you put the right package together, I think people will support it."
Bill Bariamis, president of the St George Soccer Association, said the plans for Barton Park would officially be unveiled before Christmas and a presentation of the masterplan will be made to the local Rockdale Council.
"We are looking to meet the NRL criteria because we do want the league boys to be part of it," Bariamis said.
He said discussions had taken place between architects Woods Bagot and a bank, which is keen to underwrite the project.
He said the total development of the area was necessary because the stadium on its own would never pay for itself.
Once approval was granted, it was envisaged the new stadium would be completed within three years.
Kevin Casey, the Director of Strategic and Service Planning at Rockdale Council, said he spoke to a representative from the soccer association about Barton Park three or four months ago.
"We would like to see Barton Park refurbished, it is quite old and anything that can be done to improve it would be a godsend," Casey said.
Bariamis did not foresee any problems with soccer and rugby league sharing the ground.
"My administration has been working on this for the past couple of seasons and now, hopefully, we are there," Bariamis said.
"Soccer has been waiting for it for a long time," He said St George Soccer Association currently runs a team in the NSW Premier League and has 6000 registered players.
"We are aiming to apply for a national league licence within three years," Bariamis said.
"With the complex there and everything going for it we are pretty confident St George will be back in the big time."
A spokesman for the NSL said the board would always listen to any approach. "The south of Sydney has always expressed an interest to have a team directly represent it in the league," the spokesman said. "And it is a very strong junior catchment area."
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