If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
That is the mantra being applied by Regional Facilities Auckland as it kicks around the curved ball that is the Auckland Stadium Strategy.
The initial strategy, positioning Eden Park as the region's premier sporting stadium and new home for the Warriors,
was pitched as transformational for the city's underused and struggling stadiums.
The Warriors would shift to the "vacant lot" as sports columnist Chris Rattue labelled Eden Park, cricket would put down a new wicket at Western Springs, and speedway move to Mt Smart Stadium. North Harbour got the crumbs.
Regional Facilities argued then, and continues to argue, that the ratepayer does not have $70 million to upgrade Mt Smart for a private club, namely the Warriors. Nor, it says, can the city sustain three footy stadiums. After two years of public and private bickering the strategy has hit an impasse, largely, it appears, because of Eden Park's reluctance to reduce its costs and be part of a shared management structure.
