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The new Perth Stadium is just so god-damn sexy

Brendan Foster

Political leaders have a habit of commemorating their legacy by erecting "monuments" to themselves to reflect their time in power.

Usually these buildings are unostentatious and underwhelming in their architectural scope.

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How is Perth Stadium going?

Ron Alexander shares some insights into how the new Perth Stadium is shaping up.

But Premier Colin Barnett could be remembered for a project that is truly breathtaking and awe-inspiring: the new Perth Stadium.

As a journalist my natural instinct is to bludgeon or lampoon a government project for running late or over budget, but the 60,000-seat stadium at Burswood is innovative and truly jaw-dropping.

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The stadium may still experience a few glitches and is only 70 per cent complete but already it is utterly overwhelming and god damn sexy.

Don't panic, I'm not suffering from objectophilia and maybe it was the pint or two I had over lunch, but I was mildly aroused when entering the stadium for the first time.

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Yes, WA is an economic basket case at the moment, but just turn away for a minute or two and forget we are all about to plunge into crippling poverty.

When you first glance the stadium from across the Swan River in East Perth it resembles the incomplete Death Star in one of those horrible Star Wars prequels.

Ok, if it was cut in half, and I'm not suggesting there is some contraption in the bowels of the stadium that can wipe out a planet, it's just an imposing and impressive structure.

(Although it would be handy if there was some device that could give Dockers superstar Nat Fyfe a mild zap when he gets off the leash against the Eagles)

It truly makes the vacuous concrete monstrosity that is Domain Stadium look like some relic from Soviet Russia.

Department of Sport and Recreation director general Ron Alexander said no stone was unturned in getting the stadium right.

"The planning has been intense. We went and had a look at some of the best facilities around the world," he told WAtoday.

"In the UK we had a look at their Olympic facilities; in the US we looked at some of the gridiron facilities and got some of the best features out of those.

"It's like if you are going to build a home, you have a look at some home opens.

"And we saw some fabulous parts of different facilities, which we brought to this stadium.

"It looks awesome...that is a reasonable word."

And bloody awesome it is.

It might not be grandiose in style and resemble any of the work by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, who designed the sublime National Stadium in Beijing, but the Burswood stadium is made with the fan in mind.

Forget some of the world's biggest screens, which you can view from space, the sportsgoer is going to become slightly faint and giddy when walking into the ground for a West Coast and Fremantle game.

No matter where you plonk your butt, you can see the oval.

The seats have been supersized, so there will be no need to visit a chiropractor after watching a game at Domain Stadium and no creaking off the neck to see Nic Naitanui take a hanger in the forward pocket.

And after guzzling on mid-strength beer you won't have to spend an entire quarter of football lining up with urine trickling down your leg... there are more than 780 toilets.

And that's just for women.

"If you want to come to live sport you want to come close to the action," Alexander said.

"You want to be able to see replays, you want to be able to see stats.

"The way the seats are raised, you get close to the action. So every seat gives you a good view."

The Premier wants the project to be fast tracked so it can be ready for an Ashes Test in December 2017.

If it's not, who cares? WA has finally got an impressive sporting structure that can rival others around Australia.

Alexander said the stadium would be used as soon as the paint dries.

"If it is ready earlier it would be great to take advantage of it," he said.

"It's like having a shopping centre - if it's open you want customers ... and we want to see great events coming here and, with a facility like this, people want us to use it.

"So if it's ready and available why wouldn't you use it?"

Ironically, Mr Barnett might not be in power when the gates of the new stadium finally swing open.

But "Colin's Colosseum" will be entertaining punters long after all of us are gone.