Concert dampener Wet cuts Elton parking spots
STUCK in the mud, stadium staff have pulled the pin on almost 500 car parks ahead of the Elton John concert.
The prolonged wet weather in Townsville has severely impacted the grass car spaces at two of the three carparks at the Townsville Showgrounds and Reid Park.
Now, two of the carparks will become pre-book only with 1100 spaces reduced to just 680.
The Queensland Country Bank Stadium co-ordination team is urging people to take a bus to Saturday’s concert.
Since Sunday, 215mm of rain has been recorded at Townsville Airport.
With more rain expected today and tomorrow and the Bureau of Meteorology predicting an afternoon or evening thunderstorm for Saturday, the grass carparks could get worse.
The showground carpark will be reduced by half, now
TOWNSVILLE’S new stadium has again been turned into a construction site with more than 100 people on site to build Sir Elton John’s stage for Saturday’s performance.
To get the stage set up, 22 trucks with only 300 car parks available. Reid Park will only have 180 car parks, which must be pre-booked.
The 500 spaces available at Dean Park will also become pre-book only. All prebooked parking will cost $3.
The State Government, Townsville City Council and stadium co-ordinators made the decision late yesterday and it is expected an official announcement will be made were needed to transport the stage equipment and 160 builders will work 11 hours a day to complete the task.
The stage is one of six Elton has toured with around Australia and measures 500sq m, is 21m tall and features 450sq m of LED screens.
Queensland Country Bank Staditoday. After a successful dry run for the Stadium Transport Plan last Saturday with 8000 people attending open day, this is a blow for stadium organisers.
The transport plan, which encourages people heading to the stadium to walk, bus, or take a taxi to the stadium, had little to no issues.
Thousands more are expected to descend on the stadium for Elton John. The um site manager Matthew Gillespie said the production was “epic”.
“For Townsville it is a big moment and ... for us, it is a learning process for the stadium itself to have a big event in here and how it all works,” he said.
“It is kind of epic because it is a new stadium and it is such a big show, it is stadium’s grandstand capacity is 25,000, but with seating also planned on the field it is unknown the exact number of people attending the Elton John concert.
Concertgoers are being urged to take a bus or park in the 6000 available spaces in the city and then walk to the stadium.
There are three free bus routes available with pre-purchased tickets; Kirwan via Heatley and Currajong; Kirwan via Ross River Rd; and Belgian Gardens via the Strand. unique again.”
Mr Gillespie said the stage has been brought “forward slightly” on the field to reflect the ticket sales so the stadium “feels fuller”.
The stage will be dismantled only two days after the concert. and it will never happen in