I haven't been this excited about a new stadium venue since the last time a Civic Stadium was on the cards.
It's hard not to like the Acton Waterfront venue for so many reasons.
The first? Sixteen minutes.
"Come on, Polkinghorne, that's even too abstract for you," I hear you say.
According to Google, that's how long it would take to walk from The Canberra Times office down to where the Canberra Liberals want to build a 30,000-seat stadium.
But I reckon I could do it in 12. Thirteen tops.
Just imagine Friday night, knocking off work - or for some of us, grabbing your laptop - and taking the short stroll down to the lake for the game.
Maybe stop off at a watering hole for some sustenance to make sure you get there raring to go.
That's the big positive of a city stadium - the boost it brings to businesses. Bars, pubs, restaurants - they'll all love it. And it's much more vibrant than the government's preferred venue of Bruce.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee said the new Parramatta Stadium produced almost a $1 million boost to the local economy every time there was an event there.
Given it also holds 30,000 she felt a Civic Stadium would provide a similar boost as well.
There's just something about waterfront stadiums that's extra special.
The San Francisco Giants' ballpark has always been on the bucket list of places to watch some baseball.
Central Coast Stadium and Wollongong are both cool little venues given their proximity to the sea, but neither of those could compete with a stadium right next to the lake.
I've lost count of the number of times I've driven past there and thought it was the perfect venue - especially now they've reclaimed some of the water.
The only problem was - where to put the world's best outdoor futsal court?
Maybe it could be relocated - in one piece - to the redeveloped AIS, where Canberra Stadium is now. Nice piece of synchronicity there.
Although talk of that futsal court sparked concerns in the office the site was cursed.
It's hard to find a bigger dud - unless you count the container village that randomly sprung up on it one year before disappearing almost as quickly back into the ether it came from.
Maybe that's because the site has been waiting for its one true purpose - to become an $800 million stadium.
I'd much rather that than a bunch of rich folk waking up to views of the lake every morning.
Apartments? Really? Especially luxury ones only the elite can afford. I mean, we already have apartments somewhere else so why do we need more of them here?
That land should be used to build important things like stadiums, schools and hospitals instead.
There are a couple of problems with the site.
Any ACT government would need permission from the National Capital Authority to build a stadium on it.
There's height restrictions and planning controls that come with that.
But as ACT Brumbies great Ben Alexander pointed out on Tuesday - that can be changed.
If the NCA's going to allow the current ACT government to build luxury apartments there then it's hardly a stretch for them to approve a stadium.
The next problem is parking.
There's something about the Canberran mind that conditions everyone to think of it.
But I was at Kogarah Oval on Saturday to cover the Canberra Raiders and there isn't any parking within cooee of there.
There's surprisingly little car parking at the MCG - 2000 might sound like a lot, but for a stadium that holds 100,000 people it's basically nothing.
In a sign of how car-centric Canberra is, there's more than 3000 car parks at Canberra Stadium - which has a quarter of the capacity.
Adelaide Oval, which Chief Minister Andrew Barr used as the poster-child of inner city stadiums before he backflipped on Civic, has hardly any parking at all.
Most people walk there from the city - across the famous footbridge - having either caught public transport or parked up there themselves.
That's exactly what would happen at Acton Waterfront.
People would adapt. Sixteen minutes - but I reckon I can do it in 12.
