Trying to avoid the title of White Elephant trainers, the City of Cape Town is considering turning Cape Town Stadium “into a hub of commercial activity”. The idea is to introduce restaurants, night clubs, sports bars and coffee spots to the stadium to make back some of the R44,6 million a year running costs.

Due to high hiring costs, the stadium has not been used for enough events to make it profitable. The City of Cape Town will “approach the province to ease restrictions that were put in place to appease Green Point residents during the 2010 Soccer World Cup,” News24 reports.

When the stadium was built the province banned commercial outlets such as parking, offices and the like to third parties in an attempt to keep noise levels down. Now, it seems, the screams of the city’s accountants as R46 million gets sucked up by an empty stadium is a louder, more worrisome noise.

Green Point Ratepayers and Residents Association chairman Bobby Goebel told the Cape Times it welcomed development within the stadium but would object to a building on the Green Point Common.

[Source: News 24]