Posts Tagged ‘hotels’

An interesting period lays ahead with regard to Carrara Stadium, often called Gold Coast Stadium, as the fresh new AFL club, the Gold Coast Suns helps make it their home for the beginning of the 2011 season. With respect to followers going to, and travellers browsing for hotels near Carrara Stadium there are numerous kinds of alternatives that should let them take pleasure in seeing their own clubs compete as well as experiencing many of the fabulous Gold Coast experiences.

The Gold Coast Ground was first erected around 1986 then opened for business the next year once the Brisbane Bears had been approved approval to play with the then VFL. The teams highest crowd occurred in 1989 when in excess of eighteen thousand people witnessed the Bears do battle with Geelong. Even so crowds declined and as a result the Bears went to the Gabba in Brisbane in 1993. The actual ground no longer had a leading tenant and as a result was finally acquired by the Gold Coast City Council. The arena in addition occasionally hosted Rugby League competitions.

The Arena boasts big grandstands on either side of the actual ground, along with turf parts around the remainder of the arena. It will feature a full capacity of around 25,000 which includes undercover places.

The Gold Coast Sun’s Football Club redeveloped multi-purpose football Ground at Carrara would have a spectator volume of a 25,000 seat stadium and will become an exciting section of the Gold Coast sports landscape.

Despite the fact that accommodation around Carrara is restricted there are many excellent selections nearby that can easily be reached by way of public transport. For supporters arriving through Brisbane there will probably be hire coaches made available for match days. Also, there are trains via Brisbane that run to Nerang Station from where community charter buses might go to the Carrara Sporting Complex.

Together with the larger crowds anticipated to arrive for AFL events at Gold Coast Stadium Carrara people should use the shuttle service buses. A majority of these have traditionally been free of charge after display of your football entry ticket however this may change into the future. For people staying in Surfers Paradise and then travelling to the Carrara Ground, the Route 745 coach leaves every fifteen minutes through Surfers Paradise running two hours in advance of kick off. Out of Pacific Fair to the Carrara Ground a shuttle service coach probably will run each 10 minutes coming from Pacific Fair (Southern area bus rank) beginning a couple of hours ahead of when the very first football is bounced. Coming from Harbour Town Shopping Centre to the Gold Coast Stadium the actual shuttle coach leaves Harbour Town Shopping Centre shuttle stand each and every quarter-hour, beginning a couple of hours prior to when the actual game begins. Similarly for Robina Town Centre to Carrara Arena commuters a shuttle departs Robina Town Shopping Centre shuttle area each and every quarter-hour, starting two hours ahead of start up.

It does not matter which sporting event you are attending at this wonderful new Stadium within the Gold Coast there is always quite a lot of both affordable as well as deluxe overnight accommodation readily available in a short distance. The new AFL Gold Coast Suns look set to be well liked over the vicinity anyone needing accommodation near Carrara Stadium should arrange their own room well in advance.

Bailey Jamieson is considered an avid and commonly used reporter on Gold Coast accommodation alternatives in hotel rooms, resorts and flats all the way through this outstanding area of Queensland. Anyone will find his posts informative as well as varied.

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On January 31, 2000, the historic Mapes Hotel in Reno was imploded by 75 pounds of explosives tucked into the art-deco structures support columns. The destruction of the Mapes put an end to years of efforts to preserve the building via lawsuits, redevelopment proposals, and grass roots action. The National Trust for Historic Preservation took up the cause of the Mapes, and challenged the destruction in a suit that eventually reached the Nevada Supreme Court.

While the logic and necessity of demolishing the Mapes is very questionable, one thing that is certain is that the hotel was an important part of Northern Nevada history. The opening of the Mapes in’47 ushered in a new era in casino gambling, and changed the economy and way of life in Nevada forever. The Mapes was actually the first property in the country to combine a hotel, casino and live entertainment under the same roof. It also became the hotel of choice for celebrities staying in Northern Nevada. Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe stayed at The Mapes during the filming of ‘The Misfits’. Joseph McCarthy, America’s famed anti-Communist crusader, admitted to a reporter over cocktails in the Mapes Lounge that he really didn’t have a list of Communists in the US despite his frequent and vitriolic insistence to the contrary.

During the ‘Rat Pack’ era of the 50′s and 60′s it became along with the Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe the place to be seen in Northern Nevada. The 11th floor, window walled Sky Room Lounge hosted performances by a roster of entertainment legends including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Milton Berle and Mae West. Downtown Reno struggled during the’60′s and 70′s but the Mapes continued to prosper. The hotel finally closed in’82, due to financial problems experienced by the Mapes Family brought about by their other Northern Nevada casino holdings.

Reno has yet to experience the sort of growth that has been seen in Southern Nevada, and for that reason the destruction of the Mapes is more open to debate than the hotel demolitions to the south. Even the demolition of The Sands–perhaps the most historically significant casino in the state–is hard to argue against given the inability of such a small property to compete in the current Las Vegas marketplace and in light of the value of the mid-strip real estate.

This is not the case in Reno, where land and buildings for development in virtually every casino area are abundant. The official reason that the Mapes had to come down was that the city needed the land–which sits along the banks of the Truckee River–to expand its riverside district of art galleries, restaurants and shops. The revitalization of downtown Reno is definitely needed and a legitimate goal, but at the same time it is hard to think that the Mapes was a barrier to this. Indeed, a number of proposals for redevelopment including office space, artists lofts and upscale senior housing would have probably served to enhance the livability of the downtown area. For whatever reason, the City Redevelopment Authority wouldn’t approve any of the proposals and the fate of the Mapes was sealed.

The behavior of the City Redevelopment Authority throughout the process has come into question. Overlooking the Truckee River, the hotel was perfectly placed between the downtown casino area and the riverfront district. In’96, the city purchased the htoel and began accepting proposals for redevelopment. Despite receiving a number of proposals that made sense both in terms of their financial workability and positive impact on the downtown area, the City Redevelopment Authority nixed all of them and insisted that the hotel be razed.

Following the 2000 demolition, the lot remained vacant for over a year until a temporary ice skating rink was hastily constructed the following winter. The site now houses a permanent ice skating rink which, while not a bad use for the land, isn’t the sort of game changing improvement suggested by the City Redevelopment Agency and their adamant insistence that the building be demolished. To the contrary, it appears they had no specific plan or even general idea of what to do with the land but for some reason wanted to see the hotel come down. This has led to all manner of speculation, ranging from financial self interest to a rumor that the structure was ‘haunted’ and needed to be destroyed to forestall future paranormal activity in Washoe County. Whatever the reason, the city of Reno lost a valuable landmark that played a significant part in the economic growth of the entire state.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

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