Days of redevelopment past

So, with us moving out for a bit, and them going to build a stand on the outer side at Lakeside, it's perhaps worth noting our history of outer sides. Of course, there was no outer side stand at Middle Park. It was always that Hellas and Hakoah built stand from the very early days of Middle Park's history as a stadium, and not simply a probably unenclosed park.

And there was this, which I've nicked from Austadiums

Bob Jane Stadium Redevelopment  

Current Status:
At this stage, is is unlikely this redevelopment will go ahead.

Overview:

The proposed redevelopment of Melbourne's Bob Jane Stadium will include a new Grand Stand to be built opposite the currently members stand. The plans for the new grandstand include seating for six thousand people in a two-tiered structure, as well as increased corporate dining facilities and viewing suites. The plans also include office facilities, which could include housing for the Victorian Soccer Federation.

I'm not sure what year that's from. One wonders if it had been built, what route our fortunes may have taken. A facility of that sort, accommodating the pleb and celeb alike in great comfort, hell, even just the increase in undercover seating... but that opportunity, for whatever reason, is long gone, and with it... well, another set of what ifs I guess.

Certainly, in the late NSL era, Peter Mitrakas said the following in a Herald Sun article about building a new stand:

Mitrakas said South was looking for a co-tenant at Bob Jane Stadium, with an ultimate aim of building a second grandstand and turning the ground into a 14,000-capacity, all-seater stadium.

"When we took out the lease in 1995, we also got a development approval to build another grandstand (opposite the current stand), but we haven't got the money to do it," he said.

"We estimated then it would cost up to $3 million but that will at least have doubled now.

This was before the new league even had a name, and the allegedly Chinese backed consortium Melbourne Dragons was rumoured to be a candidate for inclusion into the new competition. Nobody talks about that anymore though.