Waverley Park - Construction

Construction

Under the direction of architect Reginald E. Padey, work was started at the site on 5 January 1966 when the VFL President Sir Kenneth Luke turned the first sod. On construction of the stadium, a total of 378,000 cubic yards (289,000 m³) of topsoil was excavated and the surface of the oval was lowered to a depth of 10 metres from the surrounding area. The soil was used to form the banks for some sections of the stadium.

The foundations for the K.G. Luke stand were laid in 1969 and more than 20 kilometers of solid concrete terracing was laid around the ground.

Finally, on 18 April 1970, Fitzroy and Geelong played the first game at Waverley Park, to a crowd of 25,887. However, the stadium was far from completed. In fact the only section of the actual grandstand that was built was the first level of the K.G. Luke Stand. The rest of the stadium had only been completed on the ground level.

The Public Reserve Stands encircling the rest of the stadium were finished at a cost of $4.5 million in 1974 and the car parking was extended to fit a total of 25,000 cars. Lighting was added in May 1977, at a cost of $1.2 million, for the first of the 1977 night series televised matches.

In 1982 a monochrome video matrix scoreboard was in operation at Waverley Park for the first time in VFL history, displaying instant replay highlights. In 1984 the arena was re-turfed and the drainage system upgraded. Two years later a mosaic mural perpetuating many great names of VFL football was installed on the grandstand facade above the members' entrance. During the 1988 season automatic turnstiles were introduced at the members' entrance.