Dons to rebuild Windy Hill
The Age
Thursday November 19, 2009
ESSENDON has revealed its $20 million plan to rebuild Windy Hill in a bid to keep the Bombers at their traditional home for the long-term future.Retiring chairman Ray Horsburgh and his new chief executive Ian Robson spent yesterday in Canberra holding talks with key Federal Government leaders, outlining the club's bid to remove cricket and bowls from the Essendon home ground, extend the oval to MCG-size and build a state-of-the-art new training facility on the Raleigh Street side of the ground.Robson described the move as "a multigenerational solution to keep us at Windy Hill. That's part of our DNA," the former Hawthorn boss told The Age. "For us, it's about keeping Essendon in Essendon at Windy Hill, which is something a number of other clubs have been unable to do. We want to preserve our grass roots but what I think we all have an understanding of, and Matthew Knights has an understanding of, is superior facilities and a strong home base is one area where you can hope to seek a competitive advantage in an equalised competition."Robson said he had already approached AFL boss Andrew Demetriou about the redevelopment, which the club hopes could be partly funded by the next broadcast agreement to be struck from 2012.Hawthorn, Melbourne, Collingwood and St Kilda have all been forced from their traditional homes in a bid to build improved facilities, with the Saints to relocate to Frankston and Melbourne to new training facilities at both Casey and the Olympic Park precinct, having been without a permanent home since it departed the MCG in the early 1980s.Essendon, which has no plans to rename Windy Hill, is understood to have received a positive response in Canberra yesterday, where Robson and Horsburgh met Federal Sports Minister Kate Ellis, the club's No. 1 ticket-holder Lindsay Tanner and Essendon's local member Bill Shorten. Robson said the project could not go ahead without federal, state and local government financial support.Knights has been pushing for some time to increase the Windy Hill ground, which is smaller than both the MCG and Etihad Stadium. "We don't send Olympic swimmers to swim the 100 metres freestyle and train them over 80 metres," said Robson.A scheduled meeting of the Moonee Valley council next month could spell the end of cricket at Windy Hill, leaving only Richmond and North Melbourne with home grounds beholden to the summer sport and unable to enjoy a full pre-season at their respective home grounds.Essendon has long been regarded as an AFL leader in its off-field work with the local community and a number of those programs would be expanded at Windy Hill from one to up to five days a week in the rebuilt facilities, which would also lead to the club housing new tenants, including the Victorian branch of the national paralympics body and an upgrading of the Essendon Hall of Fame.Horsburgh, who will retire as chairman after more than three years at the helm but remain on the board for at least another two years, said his decision to hand over the reins to David Evans was a lifestyle choice.The 66-year-old retired two years ago as CEO and managing director of the Smorgon Steel Group and has overseen three tumultuous years at the club, punctuated by the enforced departure after 27 years of coach Kevin Sheedy.Highly respected club CEO Peter Jackson left in September and was replaced by Robson, who has come to the club with an initial four-year deal.Knights has been signed for another two years and Horsburgh said the football department was in the capable hands of former player Paul Hamilton, an executive the outgoing chairman claimed had been a significantly underrated performer. "Really, we've been a club in transition for a few years," said Horsburgh. "I think we're in good shape now and David [Evans] is a good up-and-coming chairman and I hope I can still be as much use as a board member as chairman."Evans is the son of former Essendon president and AFL chairman Ron Evans.
© 2009 The Age
