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By Editor in {CATEGORY} on 30 Aug 2008

Princes Park will be transformed into an environmental haven called Visy Park under Carlton's bold expansion plans.The Blues will announce details of the $18 million development.

As part of the green push, Blues captain Chris Judd will become Visy's community environmental ambassador. The naming rights deal for Princes Park is believed to be worth $5 million over the initial three-year deal. And there is an option for another three years. The project will give Carlton a state-of-the-art football headquarters.

As part of the campaign, schoolchildren will visit the Visy Sustainable Living Centre and hear the green message in a 70-seat lecture theatre. The development's environmental initiatives will include rainwater collection tanks, improved water efficiency, a solar hot water system and the introduction of cutting-edge green practices.

Visy boss Richard Pratt this year stood down as Carlton president to face criminal charges that he lied to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over price-fixing. Pratt has been behind Visy's elevation from shorts sponsor to naming rights sponsor.

Princes Park's Harris and Heatley Stands have already been torn down for the new development and the club expects to move in within a year. The development spells the end to Carlton's days as an AFL football venue, despite the league's hopes of finding a third Melbourne venue.

Carlton has sourced a total of $9.75 million in funding from the State Government ($4.3 million), the City of Melbourne ($2 million) and the AFL ($3.45 million). With Visy's $5 million factored in, the club will need to find $3.25 million to complete the development.

Carlton chief executive Greg Swann said the project had been in planning for several years and was now guaranteed. "We have gone down the environmental path and this is a perfect fit for us and Visy," Swann said. "This gives our relationship some real substance and this is something they are the forefront of, so we can push their message to the community and the kids.

"Richard (Pratt) has made a big commitment to the club and been a fantastic person. This is just another contribution to the club, and it's terrific." The sports centre will have a large gymnasium, an altitude room, hydro facilities, and warm-up area.

"Everyone is claiming to have the best facilities, but it puts us on a par with the best facilities in Australia," Pratt said. "It will have all the bells and whistles."

Visy's director of sustainability, Tony Gray, said the transition from shorts sponsor to naming rights sponsor was the ideal union.

"Carlton had already teamed with Visy to have the aspiration of being the greenest club in the league and we see this as a very significant elevation of that aspiration," he said.

Source: www.news.com.au

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