Midweek Fixture: New stadium something we could raise a glass to

New stadium a chance to make amends for Auckland's wretched treatment of sports fans. Photo / File

In 2010 a pub down the road from work was moved about 40m. A year later it was moved back.

It is believed to have cost the taxpayer more than $2.5 million to move the brick building about 90m in total and 4m from its original position.

I've been to that pub once I believe, twice at a pinch. It's called the Birdcage, though it was once the Rob Roy and was, by all accounts, notorious back in days when Freeman's Bay was a waterfront slum.

Most Aucklanders will never sup from its taps. The city has plenty of pubs, plenty of old pubs too.

But the Birdcage, nee Rob Roy, survived by dint of its historic designation and that's great. Despite the fact the vast majority of New Zealanders will never frequent the place and despite the fact that Auckland doesn't actually need a pub at the bottom of College Hill – there's a perfectly serviceable one halfway up the hill – it's a good thing.

It might present an illogical business case, but modern cities are just that little bit more pleasant when they go out of their way to preserve their history, even the dubious saloons of the past.

Here are a few other things modern cities don't actually need, but are better for having:

•Public museums;

•Public art galleries;

•Suburban libraries;

•A philharmonic orchestra;

•Parks and reserves.

In many cases the above will be at least in part funded by people like you and me. We rarely complain because all these are pieces of the complicated interlocking puzzle that go towards the whole: a modern, vibrant city.

Know what else modern, vibrant cities don't need but are miles better off having - world-class sporting facilities.

But even the mere mention of the words "new stadium" gets people worked up into a frothy lather.

The anti-sports brigade mark out their run-ups and come pushing off the pickets – or at least they would if there was a proper cricket ground to speak of in the city.

What about QBE Stadium?

What about Mt Smart Stadium?

What about bloody Eden Park?

Yeah, what about the fact they're all varying degrees of embarrassing?

When this was a more fractured city, riven by inter- and intra-council politics, terrible decisions were made that have hurt fans badly. Millions of wasted dollars were poured into Albany and Penrose and what are we left with? Two half-pie stadiums that are painful to get to for the vast majority of Aucklanders, both of which provide awful match-day experiences for fans (despite the best efforts of the Warriors).

Eden Park has a lot more going for it than it did a decade ago – mainly due to the development of neighbouring Kingsland as an entertainment precinct – but it is still a dreadful cricket ground, is still heavily restricted as to what it can host, still a niggly distance from the CBD and still too big for the majority of events it hosts.

People talk about declining crowds and while it is true that it is harder and harder to get people off the couch and through the turnstiles, they ignore the fact that one of the major reasons is because Auckland does live sport so badly.

The 'Super' City is being gift-wrapped a chance to make amends.

As a journalist I'm intrigued by the politicking and the apparent secrecy behind the stadium proposal; as a ratepayer I'm interested in how the burghers plan to pay for it; as a sports fan, I'm desperate for it to happen.

The sports fan in me is unquestionably winning out in this mental tug o' war.

The thought of finishing work near the CBD on a Friday before heading off to the footy with friends or family is a tantalising prospect, one which actually seems within reach.

Might even stop by the Birdcage for a pre-match drink.

THE WEEK IN MEDIA ...

Hat tip to online sports editor Cam McMillan, who found these two pieces. The first is a new, mind-bending twist on the age-old theme of second chances, from SI.

The second is just a cracking piece of adventure journalism, from Deadspin.