title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat lies at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range in Central Western Victoria. Also known as the Central Highlands, it is named so because of its elevated position and moderate hills and terrain with a lack of any alpine mountains that are situated a few hundred kilometres NE. The city lies within a mostly gently undulating section of the midland volcanic plains which stretch from Creswick in the north, to Rokewood in the south, and from Lal Lal in the south-east to Pittong in the west.


title: Ballarat

text: Geologically, the area consists of alluvial sediment and volcanic flows originating from now-extinct volcanoes such as nearby Buninyong (750m, 2460 ft) and Warrenheip (746m, 2446 ft), which are the area's tallest peaks. As a result, the basin contains large areas of fertile agricultural soil. Ballarat itself is situated on an alluvial basin of the Yarrowee catchment and its tributary creeks, penetrated by sub-ranges of schists composed of granites and quartz. Along with the visible river and creeks, the catchment basin has numerous active and inactive aquifers and natural wetlands, which are used for urban water supply, agriculture and recreation.


title: Ballarat

text: There are numerous densely forested areas around Ballarat; however due to historic wood milling and land clearing there remain no old-growth forests. The major natural bodies of water are in the west and include the former shallow swamps of Lake Wendouree which is central to the city's western suburbs and beyond Winter's Swamp and the large Lake Burrumbeet wetland complex. Almost all of the other numerous bodies of water have been created artificially and include several reservoirs, the largest being the White Swan Reservoir and smaller suburban lakes such as Lake Esmond.


title: Ballarat

text: The contiguous urban area of Ballarat covers approximately of the local government area's . Approximately 90% of the urban area's land use is residential and suburban. From the city centre this area extends approximately north to the hills around Invermay, approximately east to Leigh Creek in the foothills of Mount Warrenheip, approximately west along the plains to Lucas and approximately south along the Yarrowee River and Canadian Creek valley to the fringe of Buninyong. The central city is situated low in the valley of the Yarrowee River and surrounded by hills such that the city skyline is visible only from the hills and the lower lying inner eastern suburbs. The reach of the Yarrowee River toward Ballarat Central becomes a stormwater drain and is completely covered over as it flows under the CBD.


title: Ballarat

text: The city is home to nationally significant heritage structures. These include the Ballarat Botanical Gardens (established 1857), with the greatest concentration of public statuary, the official Prime Ministers Avenue, the longest running lyric theatre building (Her Majesty's Theatre, established 1875), the first municipal observatory, established 1886, and the earliest and longest war memorial avenue (the Avenue of Honour, established between 1917 and 1919).


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat is a primarily low-rise city. The City of Ballarat defines two Major Activity Centres within the urban area – the Central Business District (CBD) and Wendouree with a high concentration of business, retail and community function based primarily on the Melbourne 2030 planning model and a further 11 neighbourhood activity centres. The tallest building in urban Ballarat is the seven-storey Henry Bolte wing of the Ballarat Base Hospital (1994). Beyond the central area, urban Ballarat extends into several suburban areas with a mixture of housing styles. Predominant styles are 19th-century villas, Victorian terraces, Federation homes and Georgian red brick homes. Settlement patterns around Ballarat consist of small villages and country towns, some with less than a few thousand people.


title: Ballarat

text: The Central Business District (located in Ballarat Central) is a large mixed-use office and retail district bounded to the north by railway lines, to the west by Drummond Street, to the south to Grant street and to the east by Princes Street and spanning the floodplain of the Yarrowee River. Lydiard, Sturt Streets, Armstrong, Doveton, Dana Street and Bridge Street (known as Bridge Mall) along with the historic centre of East Ballarat—Main Street and Bakery Hill have retained stands of commercial and civic buildings of state and national heritage significance.


title: Ballarat

text: The inner established suburbs were initially laid out around the key mining areas and include Ballarat East, Bakery Hill, Golden Point, Soldiers Hill, Black Hill, Brown Hill, Eureka, Canadian, Mount Pleasant, Redan, Sebastopol and Newington.


title: Ballarat

text: The post gold rush era has seen a boom in expansion, extending the conurbation north, south and west. To the west, Ballarat has expanded West to Lucas, Alfredton, Delacombe To The North West Wendouree, Wendouree West and Miners Rest To the north it has expanded to Ballarat North, Invermay Park, Invermay, Victoria Invermay and Nerrina; to the east to Warrenheip and south to Sebastopol, Mount Clear and Mount Helen with the urban area encroaching the large town of Buninyong.


title: Ballarat

text: Wendouree is currently the only major suburban activity centre with a large indoor shopping mall—Stockland Shopping Centre (expanded in 2007) and also has a number of surrounding retail parks including a strip shopping centre along Howitt Street including the large retail chain Harvey Norman. Elsewhere are small suburban hubs with supermarkets such as IGA (supermarkets) and small stretches of shopfronts.


title: Ballarat

text: Unlike Melbourne, Ballarat does not have a defined urban growth boundary. This has put continuing pressure on the city council to approve development applications for subdivisions outside of the city fringe. In response to lobbying by landholders, the Ballarat West Growth Area Plan, a major greenfield land development plan, was prepared and has approved by the city and state government to allow for planned fringe communities consisting of 14,000 new homes and up to 40,000 new residents, effectively doubling the city's urban area by extending the urban sprawl from Sebastopol, Delacombe and Alfredton west toward Bonshaw, Smythes Creek and Cardigan with a new suburb to be known as Lucas to be created. New activity centres have been developed at Delacombe and Alfredton.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat is renowned for its Victorian architectural heritage. In 2003 Ballarat was the first of two Australian cities to be registered as a member of the International League of Historical Cities and in 2006 hosted the 10th World League of Historical Cities Congress. The city's history is a major focus of the Collaborative Research Centre in Australian History, part of Federation University Australia, and is located at old Ballarat Gaol.


title: Ballarat

text: The legacy of the wealth generated during Ballarat's gold boom is still visible in a large number of fine stone buildings in and around the city, especially in the Lydiard Street area. This precinct contains some of Victoria's finest examples of Victorian era buildings, many of which are on the Victorian Heritage Register or classified by the National Trust of Australia. Notable civic buildings include the Town Hall (1870–72), the former Post Office (1864), the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery (1887), the Mechanics' Institute (1860, 1869), the Queen Victoria Wards of the Ballarat Base Hospital (1890s) and the Ballarat railway station (1862, 1877, 1888). Other historic buildings include the Provincial Hotel (1909), Reid's Coffee Palace (1886), Craig's Royal Hotel (1862–1890) and Her Majesty's Theatre (1875), the oldest intact and operating lyric theatre in Australia and Ballarat Fire Station (1864, 1911) one of Victoria's oldest fire fighting structures and the Jewish synagogue (1861) the oldest surviving synagogue on the Australian mainland.


title: Ballarat

text: Restoration of historic buildings is encouraged including a low interest council Heritage Loans Scheme. and the prevention of demolition by neglect discouraged by council policies. Since the 1970s, the local council has become increasingly aware of the economic and social value of heritage preservation. This is in stark contrast to the 1950s and 60s when Ballarat followed Melbourne in encouraging the removal of Victorian buildings, verandahs in particular. Recent restoration projects funded by the Ballarat include the reconstruction of significant cast iron lace verandahs including the Mining Exchange, Art Gallery (2007), Mechanics institute (2005–) on Lydiard Street and in 2010 the restoration of the Town Hall and the long neglected Unicorn Hotel façade on Sturt Street.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat Citizens for Thoughtful Development formed in 1998 and was incorporated as Ballarat Heritage Watch in 2005 to ensure that the city's architectural heritage is given due consideration in the planning process.


title: Ballarat

text: The Ballarat Botanical Gardens (established in 1858) are recognised as the finest example of a regional botanical gardens in Australia and are home to many heritage listed exotic tree species and feature a modern glasshouse and horticultural centre and the Prime Ministers Avenue which features bronze busts of every past Australian Prime Minister.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat is notable for its very wide boulevards. The main street is Sturt Street and is considered one of the finest main avenues in Australia with over of central gardens known as the Sturt Street Gardens featuring bandstands, fountains, statues, monuments, memorials and lampposts. Ballarat is home to the largest of a collection of Avenues of Honour in Victoria. The Ballarat Avenue of Honour consists of a total of approximately 4,000 trees, mostly deciduous which in many parts arch completely over the road. Each tree has a bronze plaque dedicated to a soldier from the Ballarat region who enlisted during World War I. The Avenue of Honour and the Arch of Victory are on the Victorian Heritage Register and are seen by approximately 20,000 visitors each year.


title: Ballarat

text: The city also has the greatest concentration of public statuary in any Australian city with many parks and streets featuring sculptures and statues dating from the 1860s to the present. Some of the other notable memorials located in the Sturt Street Gardens in the middle of Ballarat's main boulevard include a bandstand situated in the heart of the city that was funded and built by the City of Ballarat Band in 1913 as a tribute to the bandsmen of the , a fountain dedicated to the early explorers Burke and Wills, and those dedicated to monarchs and those who have played pivotal roles in the development of the city and its rich social fabric. These include, Robert Burns, Peter Lalor, Sir Albert Coates, Harold Edward Elliott (Pompey Elliot), William Dunstan, King George V, Queen Victoria and more.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat has an extensive array of significant war memorials, the most recent of which is the Australian Ex Prisoner of War Memorial. The most prominent memorial in the city is the Ballarat Victory Arch that spans the old Western Highway on the Western approaches of the city. The archway serves as the focal point for the Avenue of Honour. Other significant individual monuments located along Sturt Street include those dedicated to the Boer War (1899–1901), the World War II (1939–1945) cenotaph, and Vietnam (1962–1972) (located adjacent to the Arch of Victory).


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat has a moderate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification "Cfb") with four distinct seasons. Its elevation, ranging between above sea level, causes its mean monthly temperatures to tend to be on average below those of Melbourne, especially in winter. The mean daily maximum temperature for January is , while the mean minimum is . In July, the mean maximum is ; average July minimum is . Ballarat has 55.2 clear days annually.


title: Ballarat

text: The city has a well known reputation for unpredictable and extreme weather, ranging from snowfall to intense heatwaves. Perhaps the most infamous feature of Ballarat's climate is the chilly winter, often accentuated by driving winds.Temperatures can dip below freezing from May to September, however a low of 0-2 C° is more common - widespread frosts and fog are a regular sight. Snowfall typically falls on nearby Mount Buninyong and Mount Warrenheip a few times a year, but in the urban area only once or twice, particularly during heavy winters. Snow has been known to fall heavily with several inches accumulating even in the CBD. Heavy snow seasons occurred in 1900–1902 and 1905–1907 (with record falls in 1906), and moderate snow seasons were recorded during the 1940s and 1980s. Snowfalls in the urban area have occurred in recent years: November 2006 (light), July 2007 (heavy), June 2008 (light), August 2008 (light), August 2014 (moderate) and June 2016 (light), July 2017 (light), June 2018 (moderate), May 2019 (light), and August and September 2020 (light and heavy).The mean annual rainfall is , with August being the wettest month (). There are an average of 198 rain-free days per year. Like much of Australia, Ballarat experiences cyclical drought and heavy rainfall. Flooding of the Yarrowee catchment occurs occasionally. In 1869 a serious flood of the Yarrowee River put most of the lower section of business district including Bridge and Grenville streets under water and caused the loss of two lives. Prolonged drought (an average annual rainfall with falls averaging as low as per year since 2001) caused Lake Wendouree to dry up completely for the first time in its history between 2006 and 2007. More recently higher rainfall levels have been recorded including in the 24 hours to 9 am on 14 January 2011, ending a four-day period of flooding rains across much of Victoria and Tasmania, and contributing to the wettest January on record, with a total of of rain for the month.


title: Ballarat

text: The city's mean daily wind run is 470 km, almost twice that of Melbourne, making it one of the windiest cities in Australia. This in turn causes warm summers to feel substantially cooler and near freezing winter days to have a far below zero wind chill.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat's highest maximum recorded temperature was on 7 February 2009 during the 2009 southeastern Australia heat wave. This was above the previous record of , set on 25 January 2003. The lowest-ever recorded minimum was at sunrise on 19 July 2015.


title: Ballarat

text: While there are no national parks in Ballarat's proximity, Ballarat is bordered by extensive bushland to the north, south and south west and sensitive wetlands to the east. The most central park to the city is the 130 ha Victoria Park, with a plethora of ovals and fields, playgrounds, walking tracks and quiet roads. There are a number of nearby state parks and large reserves including the Enfield State Park, Creswick Regional Park, Mount Warrenheip Flora Reserve, Mount Buninyong Reserve and Lake Burrumbeet park. There are also smaller parks, like Black Hill, Victoria Park, Pioneer Park and Yarowee Reserve, located within walking distance of the city centre.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat is unique in Australia—and internationally—for having retained much of its commons land, which can be used by any resident of Ballarat. Ballarat Town Common, Ballarat West Town Common and Ballarat Common are located to the west of the city. Ballarat Town Common can be accessed via Howe Street in Miners Rest and is used by dog walkers and ramblers, especially because of its open grass fields and native wetland. Ballarat West Town Common is presently farmed on by licensed farmers. The commons were reduced in size during the 20th century for property development.


title: Ballarat

text: The region is home to a large koala population with protected areas established in the city's outer southern and eastern settlements.


title: Ballarat

text: As a growing regional city there are issues including pollution, waterway health and invasive species. Air quality is generally good, however dust is sometimes an issue in the summer months and woodsmoke from fireplaces contributes to reductions in visibility in the winter months. Ballarat's waterways have historically been affected by heavy pollution from both mining and industry.


title: Ballarat

text: The Ballarat Environment Network formed in 1993 to provide a voice for environmental and nature conservation issues in Ballarat and its surroundings. Another large lobby group for sustainability in the city is the Ballarat Renewable Energy And Zero Emissions (BREAZE) formed in 2006. The City of Ballarat released an Environment Sustainability Strategy for the city in 2007.


title: Ballarat

text: Many parts of urban Ballarat have been affected by the introduction of exotic species, particularly introduced flora. Common gorse is one such problem which has prompted the formation of an official Ballarat Region Gorse Task Force in 1999 to control. European rabbits and red foxes cause significant environmental damage in the region's agriculture areas.


title: Ballarat

text: The economy of Ballarat is driven by all three economic sectors, though contemporary Ballarat has emerged as a primarily service economy with its main industry being the service industry and its key areas of business including tourism, hospitality, retail, professional services, government administration and education. Secondary sector including manufacturing, which had grown in the 20th century remains an important sector. The city's historic primary sector roots including mining and agriculture continue to play a role, though one that has declined since the 20th century. Industries emerging this century include information technology service sector and renewable energy.


title: Ballarat

text: As a major service centre for the populous goldfields region, Ballarat has large sectors of employment in business including retail, professional services and trades as well as state and federal government branch offices for public services and health care and non-government service organisations. Collectively these industries employ more than half of the city's workforce and generate the bulk of the city's economic activity.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat is the main retail economy in the region. The city has several key retail districts including a pedestrian mall known as Bridge Mall comprising over 100 traders. There are also indoor shopping malls including Central Square Shopping Centre and Stockland Wendouree. better known as Wendouree Village, with a large number of specialty stores. Major department stores include Myer, Target, Big W, Kmart, Harvey Norman and Harris Scarfe. Additionally each of the major supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Aldi) are represented. Servicing the financial sector are branches of the big four Australian retail banks (National Australia Bank, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac) along with Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and St George Bank and a number of smaller independent financial services firms.


title: Ballarat

text: Federation University Australia exports education through a large international students program and throughout Australia through distance education programs.


title: Ballarat

text: In recent years, a large technology park, the Ballarat Technology Park with communications centre has been established, with tenants including IBM and employing over 1,400 people.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat West Employment Zone (BWEZ) is located on the north-west fringe of Ballarat, adjacent to the Ballarat Airport, existing rail infrastructure and the Ballarat Western Link Road. Ballarat West Employment Zone (BWEZ) will become the engine room for jobs and economic growth in Ballarat over the next 20 years. The project involves the development of surplus Crown Land for industrial, wholesale, logistics, construction, commercial and residential uses, encouraging employment growth in Ballarat and the surrounding region. BWEZ will also include a freight hub, secure infrastructure and access to road, rail and ports. Businesses located un BWEZ include CHS Broadbent, Westlab Pty Ltd, Agrimac, Milestone Benchtops, Kane Transport and Office Vision.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat attracts 2.2 million visitors a year and the tourism and hospitality industry is a A$480 million a year sector which accounts for around 15% of Ballarat's economy and employs around 2,870 people. Tourism in Ballarat is promoted by Ballarat Regional Tourism.


title: Ballarat

text: A significant heritage tourism industry has not grown substantially in Ballarat since the 1960s. Ballarat is most notable for the award-winning open-air museum known as Sovereign Hill, a recreated 1850s gold mining settlement opened in 1970. Sovereign Hill is Ballarat's biggest tourism drawcard and is consistently rated among the best outdoor museums in the world and continues to expand. Sovereign Hill accounts for over half a million of Ballarat's visitors and $40 million in tourism revenue.


title: Ballarat

text: Several businesses and attractions have capitalised on Ballarat's gold mining history. They include Kryal Castle (1972), "Gold Rush Mini Golf" (2002) featuring the "Big Miner" (2006) one of Australia's big things (although the original proposal appeared larger and for the miner to hold the Eureka Flag) at Ballarat's eastern entrance.


title: Ballarat

text: Other tourist attractions include the Eureka Centre; The Gold Museum, Ballarat; Ballarat Botanic gardens and Lake Wendouree; the Museum of Australian Democracy; the Ballarat Tramway Museum and Ballarat Ghost Tours and Ballarat Wildlife Park. A large number of Ballarat hotels, motels and restaurants service the tourism industry. The Ballarat Tourist Association is an industry based non-profit, membership organisation representing the city's tourism industry.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat honours its rich history by hosting a number of annual festivals with historical and cultural focus including the Ballarat Begonia Festival, Ballarat Heritage Weekend and Ballarat Beat Rockabilly Festival.


title: Ballarat

text: According to the 2006 Australian Census, manufacturing is Ballarat's third largest employment sector, accounting for 14.8% of all workers.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat attracts investment from several international manufacturers. The Australian headquarters of Mars, Incorporated was established in Ballarat in 1979 with the main Ballarat factory producing popular confectionery including Mars bars, Snickers and M&M's for the Australian market as well as expanding in 2013 to produce Maltesers. McCain Foods Limited Australian headquarters was established in Ballarat in 1970 and the company continues to expand its operations. The Ballarat North Workshops is a major manufacturer of public transportation products with current investment from Alstom.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat also has a large number of home-grown companies producing textiles, general industrial engineering, food products, brick and tiles, building components, prefabricated housing components and automotive components. Brewing was once a large-scale operation, with many large businesses including the public company Phoenix Brewery, and although large-scale brewing has ceased, the city retains a substantial microbrewery industry.


title: Ballarat

text: Though historically an important sector, the production of Ballarat's primary sector declined for many decades, recovering only marginally since 2006. Where historically the mining industry supported tens of thousands of workers or the majority of the population, today agriculture dominates the sector, though collectively both industries employ less than thousand people or just over 2% of the City of Ballarat's total workforce.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat rose to prominence as a goldrush boomtown, though gold no longer plays a pivotal role in the economy of the city. Nevertheless, deep underground mining continues to the present date with a single main mine operating. There are still thought to be large, undiscovered gold reserves in the Ballarat region, with investigations being made by local and national companies. Lihir Gold invested in Ballarat Goldfields in 2006, however it downscaled its operations in 2009 due to the expense of extraction before selling its stake in 2010 to Castlemaine Goldfields. Along with gold, lignite (coal), kaolin (clay) and iron ore have also been mined in the Ballarat region and nearby Lal Lal however many of the resource deposits have since been exhausted. An active quarrying industry with large enterprises including Boral Limited extracts and manufactures building materials from the Ballarat region, including clays, aggregates, cements, asphalts.


title: Ballarat

text: Approximately half () of the municipality's area is rural with optimal conditions for agriculture including rich volcanic soils and climate. This area is used primarily for agriculture and animal husbandry and generates more than $37 million in commodities. The region supports an active potato growing industry that has supplied local food manufacturers including McCain, though more recently has been threatened by cheaper imports. Other large crops include grains, vegetables, grapes and berries. Cattle and poultry stocks, including sheep, cows and pigs, support an active local meat and dairy industry. The Ballarat Livestock Selling Centre is the largest cattle exchange in regional Victoria. The Ballarat Agricultural and Pastoral Society formed in 1856 and has run the Ballarat Show annually since 1859.


title: Ballarat

text: A$7.5 million forestry industry is active in nearby state forests as well as on a small scale in the urban area along the Canadian Valley around the suburbs of Mt Clear and Mt Helen areas with pine plantations and sawmill operations.


title: Ballarat

text: The Ballarat region has a rapidly growing renewable energy industry, in particular due to its abundant wind energy, attracting significant investment and generating revenue for local landholders and local councils. The region is also a source of bountiful geothermal energy, solar power and biomass although to date, only its wind, solar and hydroelectricity has been harvested commercially. All local commercially produced electricity is sent to the National Electricity Market.


title: Ballarat

text: Wind energy is generated by local wind farms. The largest, Waubra Wind Farm, completed in 2009, is capable of producing enough electricity to power a city 3 to 4 times the size of Ballarat. Other significant nearby wind farms include Mount Mercer, completed 2014, which produces enough energy to power 100,000 homes, equivalent to Ballarat's population. The first community-owned wind farm in Australia, the Hepburn Wind Project at Leonards Hill, completed in 2011, produces the equivalent amount of electricity used by the town of Daylesford.


title: Ballarat

text: Hydroelectricity is generated at White Swan reservoir micro hydro plant established in 2008 and producing the equivalent electricity needs of around 370 homes. Ballarat Solar Park, opened in 2009 at the Airport site in Mitchell Park, is Victoria's first ground-mounted, flat-plate and grid-connected photovoltaic farm. Built by Sharp Corporation for Origin Energy, it is and generates the equivalent electricity needs of around 150 homes.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat is the 4th largest inland city in Australia, and the 3rd largest Victorian city behind Melbourne and Geelong. The 2016 Australian national census indicated that the permanent population of the urban area was 101,588 out of the City of Ballarat's population of 104,355 and a total of 45,653 households.


title: Ballarat

text: The population of Ballarat has increased moderately to 105,471 in June 2018, having an annual growth year-on-year of 1.78% since June 2013 (slightly faster than the national rate of 1.56% during the same period).


title: Ballarat

text: The recently accelerated growth rate has been attributed by demographers to increased commuter activity arising from surging house and land prices in Melbourne coupled with public transport improvements between Ballarat and Melbourne.


title: Ballarat

text: While most of the city's population can trace their ancestry to Anglo-Celtic descent, 8.2% of the population are born overseas. Of them, the majority (4.2%) come from North East Europe. 3.4% speak a language other than English. 14.4% of the population is over the age of 65. The median age in Ballarat is 35.8 years.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat's ethnic make up is partly the result of the mid 19th Century gold rush, where people of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and East Asian descent emigrated here in the hope of landing a fortune.


title: Ballarat

text: The average income of Ballarat, while lower than Melbourne, is higher than average for regional Victoria. Ballaratians in the 2007/08 financial year earned on average A$38,850 a year. The highest earners living in the city's inner suburbs with a mean of $53,174 a year, while the lower earners are centred on the city's southern suburbs. According to the 2006 Census, Ballarat's working population is largely white collar 52.1% consisting of Management, Professionals, Clerical and Administrative Workers and Sales Workers, while 32.9% are blue collar working in Technicians and Trades, Labouring or Machinery Operation. 56.5% of households had access to the Internet in 2006. The unemployment rate as of June 2011 was 7.8%.


title: Ballarat

text: Christianity is the most common religion in Ballarat. 56.3% indicated that they were Christian while 36.9% stated they had no religion and a further 9.1% did not answer the question. Catholics (24.3%), Anglicans (10.6%) and the Uniting Church (6.8%) were the largest Christian denominations.


title: Ballarat

text: Council Chamber in Ballarat Town Hall, Sturt Street, is the seat of local government for the City of Ballarat. The council was created in 1994 as an amalgamation of a number of other municipalities in the region. The city is made up of 3 wards, each represented by three councillors elected once every four years by postal voting. The Mayor of Ballarat, currently Daniel Moloney, is elected from these councillors by their colleagues for a one-year term. The Town Hall and annexe contains some council offices, however the council's administrative headquarters are located at the council owned Phoenix Building and the leased Gordon Buildings on the opposite side of Bath Lane.


title: Ballarat

text: In state politics, Ballarat is located in the Legislative Assembly districts of Buninyong and Wendouree, with both of these seats currently held by the Australian Labor Party. In federal politics, Ballarat is located in a single House of Representatives division—the Division of Ballarat. The Division of Ballarat has been a safe Australian Labor Party seat since 2001, and was the seat of the second Prime Minister of Australia, Alfred Deakin.


title: Ballarat

text: Law enforcement is overseen from regional police headquarters at the law complex in Dana Street with a single local police station operating in Buninyong. Due to an increase in crime rates and population, two additional local police stations were proposed in 2011 one each for the suburbs of North Ballarat and Sebastopol. Justice is conducted locally overseen through branches of the Supreme, County, Magistrates and Children's Court of Victoria which operate out of the Ballarat courts Complex adjacent police headquarters in Dana Street. Corrections, at least in the longer term are no longer handled locally since the closure of the Ballarat Gaol in 1965. Offenders can be detained in 25 available cells at the police complex though are commonly transferred to nearby Corrections Victoria facilities such as the Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat.


title: Ballarat

text: Public safety and emergency services are provided by several state funded organisations including local volunteer based organisations. Storms and flooding are handled by the State Emergency Service (SES) Mid West Region Headquarters at Wendouree. Bushfires are handled by the Country Fire Authority District 15 Headquarters and Grampians Region Headquarters at Wendouree and urban structure fires are handled by multiple urban fire brigades operating at fire stations including the Ballarat Fire Brigade at Barkly Street Ballarat East, Ballarat City Fire Brigade at Sturt Street Ballarat Central and suburban stations including Wendouree and Sebastopol. Medical emergency and paramedic services are provided through Ambulance Victoria and include the Rural Ambulance Victoria, St. John Ambulance and Ballarat Base Hospital ambulance services. City of Ballarat is responsible for coordinating the Municipal Emergency Management Planning Committee (MEMPC) which prepares the Municipal Emergency Management Plan which is actioned in conjunction with local police.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat has two local newspapers, one owned by Australian Community Media and one a private equity. "The Courier" is a daily and "The Ballarat Times News Group" is a free weekly. The latter is distributed across most of the city on Thursday and contains news of community events, advertisements for local businesses, and a classifieds section. Ballarat was the hub of Australian Community Media's Victoria production and manufacturing with all printed material for the state coming from the Wendouree print site until it closed in September 2020.


title: Ballarat

text: Local radio stations include 3BA, Power FM and several community radio stations. There is also a Ballarat branch of ABC Local Radio's national network.


title: Ballarat

text: Television station BTV Channel 6 Ballarat commenced transmission of test patterns on 17 March 1962. Today Ballarat is serviced by numerous "free to air" High Definition and Standard Definition Digital television services. Two television broadcasting stations are located in the city, including WIN, WIN HD, 9Life, 9Go! and 9Gem (sub-licensees of the Nine Network) and Prime7, Prime7 HD, 7Two, 7mate, and 7flix (a sub-licensee of Seven Network). These two stations broadcast relayed services throughout regional Victoria. The city also receives Southern Cross 10, 10HD, 10 Peach, 10 Bold , 10 Shake and Sky News Regional (sub-licensees of Network 10) which is based in Bendigo but operates a local office.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat television maintains a similar schedule to the national television network but maintains local commercials and regional news programming.


title: Ballarat

text: In addition to commercial television services, Ballarat receives Government ABC (ABC1, ABC2, ABC3, ABC News 24) and SBS (SBS One and Two) television services.


title: Ballarat

text: On 5 May 2011, analog television transmissions ceased in most areas of regional Victoria and some border regions including Ballarat and surrounding areas. All local free-to-air television services are now broadcasting in digital transmission only. This was done as part of the federal government's plan for digital terrestrial television in Australia, where all analogue transmission systems are gradually turned off and replaced with modern DVB-T transmission systems.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat has two universities, Federation University and a campus of the Australian Catholic University.


title: Ballarat

text: Formerly the University of Ballarat, Federation University Australia was opened in 2014. It originated as the Ballarat School of Mines, founded in 1870, and was once affiliated with the University of Melbourne. The main campus is located in Mount Helen, approximately southeast of the city. The university also has campuses in the Ballarat CBD, Horsham, Berwick, Brisbane, Churchill, Ararat and Stawell.


title: Ballarat

text: The Australian Catholic University's Ballarat campus is located on Mair Street. It was formerly the Aquinas Training College, run by the Ballarat East Sisters of Mercy in 1909. It is ACU's only campus located outside of a capital city.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat has five State Government-operated secondary schools of which Ballarat High School (established in 1907) is the oldest. Ballarat High School and Mount Clear College are the only state school members of the Ballarat Associated Schools. The three remaining schools are Phoenix College and the two newly formed schools Mount Rowan Secondary College and Woodmans Hill Secondary College which emerged from the old Ballarat Secondary College. Phoenix College was formed in 2012 as an amalgamation of Sebastopol College and Redan Primary School.


title: Ballarat

text: The city is well serviced by Catholic schools, with eight primary schools and three secondary colleges which include the all-boys St Patrick's College, the all-girls Loreto College and the co-educational Damascus College, which was formed by the amalgamation of St Martin's in the Pines, St Paul's College and Sacred Heart College in 1995.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat has three other non-government secondary schools: Ballarat Christian College, Ballarat Clarendon College and Ballarat Grammar School.


title: Ballarat

text: The later two schools are day and boarding schools who provide education from Preschool to Year 12. Both of these co-educational schools are classified as academically excellent as the only Ballarat schools to be ranked on the tables of the top 100 Victorian schools based on median VCE scores and percentage of scores of 40 and above. In 2015, Clarendon was placed at 9th best VCE results in the State, above Melbourne Grammar, Geelong College, Scotch College, Trinity Grammar School (Victoria), Xavier College, and Haileybury College. Ballarat Grammar was placed at 82nd, above Wesley College, Geelong Grammar and Tintern.


title: Ballarat

text: The City of Ballarat has three public libraries, the largest and most extensive of which is the City of Ballarat Library, run by the City of Ballarat and located on Doveton Street North. Another library service is provided by the Ballarat Mechanics' Institute in Sturt Street, which is the oldest library in the city and a significant heritage site; it contains a collection of historic, archival and rare reference material as well as more general books.


title: Ballarat

text: The Ballarat Fine Art Gallery houses one of Australia's oldest and most extensive collections of early Australian works. It is considered to have the best Australian collection outside any capital city in Australia.


title: Ballarat

text: Federation University Australia operates the Post Office Gallery in the Wardell designed former Post Office on the corner of Sturt and Lydiard Streets.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat is home to many annual festivals and events that attract thousands of visitors. The oldest large annual event is the Ballarat Agricultural Show (since 1859), currently held at the Ballarat Showgrounds and has attracted attendances of up to 30,000 and is an official public holiday for residents of the city.


title: Ballarat

text: Lake Wendouree is featured in many including the biggest and most prominent is the Begonia Festival (held annually since 1953). SpringFest (held annually since 2001) attracts more than 15,000 people from around Victoria and features market stalls and activities around the lake.


title: Ballarat

text: The controversial Ballarat Swap Meet (formerly the Super Southern Swap Meet and held annually since 1989) attracts 30,000 visitors a year. Ballarat Heritage Weekend (held annually since 2006) celebrates the city's heritage with activities such as historic vehicles and displays in and around the CBD and has attracted as many as 14,500 visitors a year from around Victoria. The Ballarat Beer Festival at the City Oval (since 2012) has attracted more than 4,000 visitors. The Ballarat Airport Open Day (Ballarat's unofficial air show, held annually since 2009) also attracts thousands.


title: Ballarat

text: Other minor cultural festivals include the Ballarat Writers Festival, Ballarat International Foto Biennale and the Goldfields Music Festival.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat has a lively and well established theatrical community with several local ensembles as well as a number of large performing arts venues. Major performing arts venues include the 900 capacity Her Majesty's Theatre, the Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, Mary's Mount Theatre and the Post Office Box Theatre.


title: Ballarat

text: The Ballarat Civic Hall is a large public building constructed in 1958 as a general purpose venue. Its stripped classical design was heavily criticised during its planning, however it has gained some cultural significance to the city with its cavernous spaces holding many significant events over the years. Civic Hall was closed in 2002 and public pressure forced the council to redevelop it in 2018 as a modern performing arts and exposition centre. The refurbished building is a modern interpretation of its original 1950s built form and features a 1000 capacity main hall capable of use for concerts, meetings and civic events.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat has its own symphony orchestra, the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra which was formed in 1987. Some notable theatre organisations in Ballarat include BLOC (Ballarat Light Opera Company) founded in 1959. Ballarat is also the home to Australia's oldest and largest annual performing arts eisteddfod. The Royal South Street Eisteddfod is an all-encompassing performing arts festival and competition event that is conducted over twelve weeks annually.


title: Ballarat

text: In the 1970s the Ballarat urban area contained no less than 60 hotels. The introduction of gaming machines in the early 1990s has brought about significant change in the city entertainment precincts. By 2006 at least 20 hotels had closed and some of those that remain have been redeveloped as dining and/or gaming venues. Gaming machines have brought significant revenue to the remaining hotels, sports and social clubs which has enabled many to expand and modernise. The city has several dance clubs as well as a highly active live music and jazz scene. Hotels are popular meeting places for young people. The city has many fine restaurants, wine bars and eateries as well as themed restaurants. A large cinema complex consisting of several theatres is located behind the façade of the old Regent cinemas in the heart of the city. Dance parties are popular within the Ballarat area; BTR is an organisation founded in 2006 that has begun hosting dance events in Ballarat.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat has inspired many visual artists. Eugene von Guerard documented the city's establishment as a gold digging settlement, while Albert Henry Fullwood and Knut Bull depicted the city's boom era streetscapes. Ballarat features prominently in literature and fiction, including "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", a short story from Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1891); "King Billy of Ballarat and Other Stories" (1892) by Morley Roberts; "The Fortunes of Richard Mahony" (1917) by Henry Handel Richardson; "Murder on the Ballarat Train" (1993) by Kerry Greenwood; and "Illywhacker" (1985) by Peter Carey.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat is also a popular filming location. Australia's second oldest feature film, "Eureka Stockade" (1907), is the first in a line of films about the historic Ballarat event. The city makes cameos in "Dogs in Space" (1986), "My Brother Jack" (2001), "Ned Kelly" (2003) and "The Writer" (2005). The television series "The Doctor Blake Mysteries" (2012–2017) is set in Ballarat and also mostly shot there. The series was picked by the Seven Network, which proposes to make several telemovies without the Blake character, picking up the story line after his death, leaving his widow Jean.


title: Ballarat

text: Two ships of the Royal Australian Navy have been named HMAS Ballarat after the city, the corvette HMAS Ballarat (J184) and the frigate HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155).


title: Ballarat

text: Australian rules football is the most popular spectator and participation sports in Ballarat. It has its own dedicated stadium, Eureka Stadium, which serves as a venue of the Australian Football League (AFL), as well as the home ground of the semi-professional North Ballarat Roosters, which formerly competed in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The Ballarat Football League, established in 1893, features six local teams, including the Ballarat Football Club, which was founded in 1860 and remains one of the world's oldest football clubs. Other Ballarat-based teams compete in the regional Central Highlands Football League.


title: Ballarat

text: Cricket is Ballarat's second most-popular sport. It has three international standard cricket ovals, including Eastern Oval, which was one of the host venues of the 1992 Cricket World Cup. The Ballarat Cricket Association is the city's principle cricket competition. Soccer is also popular in Ballarat. Based at Morshead Park Stadium, the semi-professional Ballarat City FC competes in the National Premier League, the third tier competition of Australian soccer. Melbourne's Western United FC plays four A-League matches per year at Eureka Stadium. Basketball is played in Ballarat with the Ballarat Sports Events Centre hosting South East Australian Basketball League matches involving the Ballarat Miners and Ballarat Rush. Netball is similarly popular, with many netball clubs affiliated with local Australian rules clubs.


title: Ballarat

text: Athletics is and has historically been very popular with 4 local clubs competing at the BRAC (Ballarat Regional Athletics Centre) located at the Llanberis Athletics Track in Golden Point, 5 minutes from the CBD. The city features a rich and decorated athletics history with Australia's most successful track and field athlete (Jared Tallent - Racewalker), and many other Olympians (Steve Moneghetti, Greg Smith (Paralympian)) having been born in Ballarat.


title: Ballarat

text: Rowing and kayaking is centred on Lake Wendouree, which hosts the Victorian Schools Rowing Championships as well as the annual "Head of the Lake" rowing regatta. The city hosted rowing events for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games. Horse racing and greyhound racing are also popular, with dedicated facilities. The Ballarat Turf Club schedules around 28 race meetings a year including the Ballarat Cup meeting in mid-November. Athletics facilities include an international standard athletics track at Golden Point. Swimming and water sport is facilitated at two Olympic-sized pools as well as an indoor competition short course pool. The main facility is the Ballarat Aquatic Centre located in Lake Gardens. Baseball was first organised in Australia at Ballarat in 1857, and three local teams compete in the Geelong Baseball Association.


title: Ballarat

text: Golf is played at four main venues which include the Ballarat Golf Course in Alfredton, home to the Ballarat Golf Club. The Ballarat Roller Derby League was formed in 2008, and held their first match in 2009. They have two teams who compete in local events, and a combined travelling team, the Rat Pack, who compete in interleague roller derby competitions.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat, along with other cities in regional Victoria, will host the 2026 Commonwealth Games with Eureka Stadium flagged to host athletics, the Eastern Oval T20 cricket, and Selkirk Stadium to host boxing.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat has two major hospitals. The public health services are managed by Ballarat Health Services including the Ballarat Base which services the entire region and the Queen Elizabeth Centre for aged care on Ascot Street Sth. The St John of God Health Care centre also on Drummond Street Nth, established in 1915 is currently the largest private hospital in regional Victoria.


title: Ballarat

text: The Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre (BRICC) on the corner of Drummond and Sturt Street includes a number of facilities focused on cancer treatment.


title: Ballarat

text: The Heart Foundation did a study in 2014 that Ballarat had the highest level of physical inactivity (85.3 per cent) in Australia and that 32.9 per cent of residents were deemed obese.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat's residents are serviced by a wide range of public utilities including water, gas and electricity, telephony and data communications supplied, overseen and regulated by state based authorities and private enterprise and local council.


title: Ballarat

text: Water supply as well as sewage collection and disposal are provided by Central Highlands Water. Drinking water is sourced from a network reservoirs all located in the highlands to the east, however the majority is sourced from two main reservoirs—Lal Lal and White Swan. The Lal Lal Reservoir (built in 1970 with a capacity of ) is Ballarat's largest water catchment accounting for approximately two-thirds of the city's water usage. The White Swan reservoir (built in 1952 with a capacity) supplies most of the remainder. Since May 2008, the White Swan has been topped up by water from Bendigo's Sandhurst Reservoir through the Goldfields Superpipe with water originally sourced from the Goulburn River system. Kirks Reservoir (built between 1860 and 1862 with a capacity of ) and Gong Gong Reservoir (built in 1877 at Gong Gong, Victoria with a capacity of ) are historic main water supplies now maintained for emergency use. Other reservoirs supplying Ballarat include Moorabool reservoir (located in Bolwarrah, Victoria with a capacity of ), Wilson's Reservoir (located in the Wombat State Forest with a capacity of ), Beales reservoir (built 1863 located at Wallace with a capacity of ) and Pincotts reservoir (built 1867 located at Leigh Creek, Victoria with a capacity of ). Sewage is managed by two plants—the Ballarat North Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Ballarat South Waste Water Treatment Plant.


title: Ballarat

text: Residential electricity is supplied by Victorian electricity distributor Powercor, while residential natural gas is supplied by AGL Energy.


title: Ballarat

text: Telephone services are provided via the Doveton Street (BRAT) telephone exchange which was originally built by the Australian Telecommunications Commission (now known as Telstra) who remains its owner, though Optus now also operates services from this facility. The city's cellular network currently uses Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). Telstra has provided mobile telecommunications to Ballarat since 2003 (initially as CDMA). Optus provided competition with its entrance to the market in 2003 along with significant service upgrades in 2004 followed by Vodafone in mid-2009.


title: Ballarat

text: Data communications are provided by several companies. Telstra was the first company to provide dial-up Internet access via the Ballarat exchange, however the first network for broadband Internet access available in the city was a hybrid optical fiber cable and coaxial cable built by Neighbourhood Cable in 2001. Since then, Telstra and Optus have entered the Ballarat market, providing Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) services for residential Internet access from four main exchanges—Ballarat, Wendouree (Howitt Street), Sebastopol (Skipton Street) and Alfredton (Cuthberts Road). These companies also provide mobile data access Evolved HSPA and since late 2011 3GPP Long Term Evolution (4G). Ballarat's rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN) is seen as vital for the city's growing IT industry. During Ballarat's first stage NBN rollout in 2012, 17,800 homes will be directly connected to the network via optical fibre cable.


title: Ballarat

text: The motor vehicle is the main form of transport in Ballarat. A network of state highways radiate from Ballarat and the Western Freeway (A8) dual carriageway bypasses the central city to the north of the urban area, providing a direct road connection to Melbourne (approximately 90 minutes), westward to Ararat (approximately 75 minutes) and Horsham. Five freeway interchanges service the urban area, East Ballarat (half diamond) interchange at Victoria Street (C805); Brown Hill interchange (full diamond) at Daylesford-Ballarat Road (C292), Creswick Road interchange (full diamond) at Wendouree (A300); the Mount Rowan interchange (half diamond) at Gillies Road, Wendouree (C307) and the Mitchell Park interchange (full diamond) at Howe Street (C287). The Midland Highway is a dual carriageway which runs north along Creswick Road to the Western Freeway interchange but becomes a single carriageway north of Ballarat to Creswick (approximately 25 minutes) and runs south as the dual carriageway of Skipton Road to Magpie before becoming a single carriageway to Geelong (approximately 87 minutes). The Glenelg Highway connects directly to Mount Gambier and the Sunraysia Highway west of Ballarat which connects directly to Mildura. Sturt Street and Victoria Street, both dual carriageways carry the bulk of the east-west CBD traffic, while Mair Street is planned to become a four lane dual carriageway to relieve pressure on these main streets. Other dual carriageway main roads in the west include Howitt Street and Gillies Street. The busiest roads by far are located in the west and south at Albert Street in Redan, Sturt Street in Newington and Gillies Street in Lake Gardens which carry 22,400, 22,000 and 21,500 vehicles per day respectively and all have 4 traffic lanes.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat is a major rail transport hub in Victoria. Situated at the junction of the Ballarat line, Ararat line and Mildura lines, it currently has several connections for both passenger rail services and freight rail. The city has two passenger railway stations, the hub of Ballarat railway station and suburban Wendouree railway station. From Ballarat station, V/Line operates VLocity trains to Melbourne, west to Ararat and north to Maryborough. Since the controversial removal of "flagship" express services in 2011, successive timetable changes have slowed peak hour services to Southern Cross, with the current journey taking a minimum of 73 minutes. Patronage however has continued to grow. The Regional Rail Link project was built in 2015 to separate Ballarat trains from Melbourne's suburban rail network. Interurban services (Ballarat-Melbourne) now run half-hourly during weekday peak and hourly during weekday non-peak and on weekends from Ballarat station. A twice daily (thrice daily on weekdays) (57 minute) service connects Ballarat to Ararat (stopping at Beaufort) while there is a (53 minute) service to and from Maryborough (stopping at Creswick, Clunes, and Talbot) once a day (twice a day on weekdays) each way. Victoria's electronic ticketing system, Myki, was implemented on rail services between Wendouree and Melbourne on 24 July 2013. Ballarat is connected to Geelong by rail via the Geelong-Ballarat railway line, which currently operates only for freight.


title: Ballarat

text: CDC Ballarat operates the bus network covering the city centre, Ballarat and Wendouree stations, and most surrounding suburbs, contracted by Public Transport Victoria.


title: Ballarat

text: The once extensive Ballarat tramway network operated between 1887 and 1971 with a small section of remaining track being utilised as a tourist and museum tramway. There have been proposals to extend the network, particularly as a major tourist facility but also to connect it to the railways and return it as a viable component of the Ballarat public transport system, including a strong lobby in 2001–2002, 2010–11 and 2014, however Ballarat City Council and federal member of parliament have dismissed recent proposals.


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat Airport located north-west of the CBD consists of two sealed runways (each approximately long and wide) as well as extensive sealed aprons, night lighting and NDB navaid. Master Plans for the Airport were completed in 2005 and subsequently 2013. The report made a series of recommendations and forecasts that included lengthening, widening and strengthening of the existing main runway, consideration for expansion of the passenger terminal, recommendations for future use of aprons, and development of future structures supporting larger aircraft that would result from the forecast increased frequent usage. In 2020, initial Federal funding was provided to enable the re-building and re-instatement of the main north–south runway to 1900m (6233 feet).


title: Ballarat

text: Ballarat has a long history of cycling as a form of transport and recreation. The current cycling network continues to grow and consists of several marked on-road routes and of segregated bicycle facilities including several main routes: the Ballarat–Skipton Rail Trail and the Yarrowee River Trail with connections to the Gong Gong Reservoir. Buningyong Trail, Sebastopol Trail, and the Lake Wendouree shared path. The Ballarat Bicycle Users Group provides advocacy for the growing number of cyclists in the city. The popularity of cycling in Ballarat is also demonstrated by the large number of spectators and participants drawn to cycling sporting events held in the city.


title: Ballarat

text: In 2014, the city was one of a number of Australian regional centres examined by an ABC "Four Corners" report on the use of methamphetamine, along with Devonport, Burnie, Castlemaine and St Arnaud.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: The Black Madonna of Częstochowa (; ), also known as Our Lady of Częstochowa, is a venerated icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary housed at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa, Poland. Several pontiffs have recognised the venerated icon, beginning with Pope Clement XI, who issued a canonical coronation to the image on 8 September 1717 via the Vatican Chapter. It has also merited three pontifical golden roses to date.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: The painting (122 × 82 centimetres) displays a traditional composition well known in the icons of Orthodox Christianity. The Virgin Mary is shown as the "Hodegetria" version (meaning "One Who Shows the Way" or “Οδηγήτρια” in Greek). In it, Mary directs attention away from herself, gesturing with her right hand toward Jesus as the source of salvation. In turn, the child extends his right hand toward the viewer in blessing while holding a book of gospels in his left hand. The icon shows Mary in fleur-de-lis robes.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: The origins of the icon and the date of its composition are still contested among scholars. One difficulty in dating the icon is due in part to its original image being painted over after being severely damaged by robbers in 1430. The wooden panel backing the painting was broken, and the image slashed. Medieval restorers unfamiliar with the encaustic method found that the paints they applied to the damaged areas "simply sloughed off the image", according to the medieval chronicler Risinius. Their solution was to erase the original image and repaint it on the original panel. The original features of an Orthodox icon were softened; the nose was made more aquiline.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: The icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa has been intimately associated with Poland for the past 600 years. Its history before it arrived in Poland is shrouded in numerous legends that trace the icon's origin to Luke the Evangelist, who painted it on a cedar table top from the Holy Family house. The same legend holds that the painting was discovered in Jerusalem in 326 by Helena, who brought it back to Constantinople and presented it to her son, Constantine the Great.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: The oldest documents from Jasna Góra state that the picture traveled from Constantinople via Belz. Eventually, it came into the possession of Władysław Opolczyk, Duke of Opole, and adviser to Louis of Anjou, King of Poland and Hungary. Ukrainian sources state that earlier in its history, it was brought to Belz with much ceremony and honors by King Lev I of Galicia and later taken by Władysław from the Castle of Belz when the town was incorporated into the Polish kingdom. A famous story tells that in late August 1384, Ladislaus was passing Częstochowa with the picture when his horses refused to go on. He was advised in a dream to leave the icon at Jasna Góra.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: Art historians say that the original painting was a Byzantine icon created around the sixth or ninth century. They agree that Prince Władysław brought it to the monastery in the 14th century.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: In August 1382, the hilltop parish church was transferred to the Paulites, a hermitic order from Hungary. The golden fleur-de-lis painted on the Virgin's blue veil parallel the heraldic "azure, semée de lis, or" of the French royal coat of arms and the most likely explanation for their presence is that the icon had been present in Hungary during the reign of either Charles I of Hungary or Louis the Great, the Hungarian kings of the Anjou dynasty. They probably had the fleur-de-lis of their family's coat of arms painted on the icon. This would suggest that the image was probably originally brought to Jasna Góra by the Pauline monks from their founding monastery in Hungary.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: The Black Madonna is said to have miraculously saved the monastery of Jasna Góra (English: Bright Mount) from a Swedish invasion. The Siege of Jasna Góra took place in the winter of 1655 during the Second Northern War, as the Swedish invasion of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is known. The Swedes were attempting to capture the Jasna Góra monastery in Częstochowa. The sacred icon was replaced with a copy and the original moved in secret to the castle in Lubliniec, and later to the Pauline monastery in Mochów between the towns of Prudnik and Głogówek. Seventy monks and 180 local volunteers, mostly from the Szlachta (Polish nobility), held off 4,000 Swedes for 40 days, saved their sacred icon and, according to some accounts, turned the course of the war. This event led King John II Casimir Vasa to give what has become known as the Lwów Oath. He submitted the Polish Commonwealth under the protection of Our Lady and proclaimed her Queen of Poland in the cathedral of Lwów on April 1, 1656. Before this event, several royal nobilities have offered crowns to the image throughout the years, replacing its iron sheet crown riza with one in gold with several jewels. In later years, various gemstones were interchanged and repositioned around the image to preserve the icon's aesthetic by replacing the stolen crowns.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: The legend concerning the two scars on the Black Madonna's right cheek is that the Hussites stormed the Pauline monastery in 1430, plundering the sanctuary. Among the items stolen was the icon. The Hussites tried to get away after putting it in their wagon, but their horses refused to move. They threw the portrait down to the ground, and one of the plunderers drew his sword upon the image and inflicted two deep strikes. When the robber tried to inflict a third strike, he fell to the ground and writhed in agony until his death. Despite past attempts to repair these scars, they had difficulty covering up those slashes as the painting was done with tempera infused with diluted wax.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: Częstochowa is regarded as the most popular shrine in Poland, with many Polish Catholics making a pilgrimage there every year. Since 1711, a pilgrimage leaves Warsaw every August 6 for the nine-day, 140-mile trek. Elderly pilgrims recall stealing through the dark countryside at great personal risk during the Nazi occupation. Pope John Paul II secretly visited as a student pilgrim during World War II.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: Orthodox Christian believers in Ukraine and Belarus as former parts of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Ukrainians have a special devotion to the Madonna of Częstochowa. The icon is often mentioned in Ukrainian folk songs from the 16th and 17th centuries.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: The American National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa is located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Another shrine of the image is located in Garfield Heights, Ohio; erected on October 1, 1939, by the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: In Australia, the Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy, Penrose Park, located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales is dedicated to her honour. The title Our Lady of Mercy is used to remember all the times she has responded through history to prayers for protection.


title: Black Madonna of Częstochowa

text: Due to its Africanized image, the icon has been syncretized by some Vodou practitioners to the deity Ezilí Dantor, the main loa of the Petro family in Haitian Vodou. It is hypothesized that the image was introduced into Haiti by the reproductions of the Black Madonna brought by Polish soldiers who sided with the rebels during the Haitian Revolution.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Hillsborough Stadium is a 39,732-capacity association football stadium located in Owlerton, a north-western suburb of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. It has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday since its opening in 1899.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The ground has been substantially re-developed since 1899, with new stands on each side and the original South Stand having been substantially re-built in time for the UEFA Euro 1996 finals. It has two large two-tiered stands and two large single-tiered stands, all of which are covered. All four stands are of a similar capacity, with the South Stand being the largest and the West Stand (usually housing the away supporters) being the smallest.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The ground was the scene of the Hillsborough disaster on 15 April 1989, in which 94 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest. The subsequent Taylor Report into the disaster led to a series of long-overdue safety improvements at the ground and other large stadiums around the country, including the requirement for clubs in the top two divisions in England to have all-seater stadiums and the withdrawal of perimeter fencing around the pitch; the latter had only been installed a few years prior to the disaster.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The club's plans to renovate the stadium and expand the capacity to 44,825 have been approved by Sheffield City Council with the aim of hosting World Cup matches. The playing surface was upgraded in 2015 to the Desso GrassMaster system, including a complete replacement of the under-soil heating and drainage systems, while the scoreboard was replaced by a modern 'big screen' prior to the 2015–16 season. The stadium previously played host to World Cup and European Championship football in 1966 and 1996, respectively.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The stadium's capacity has currently been temporarily reduced to 34,854 on safety grounds, although work is continuing to restore its maximum capacity.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: During the 1898–99 season Sheffield Wednesday were told that the land rented at Olive Grove would be needed for railway expansions. They were allowed to remain there for the rest of that season but had to find a new ground for the next season. Several locations were considered but fell through for various reasons. An alternative was offered by the Midland Railway Company but it did not meet the requirements of the club.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Finally James Willis Dixon of Hillsborough House, owner of the Silversmiths James Dixon & Sons, offered a site at Owlerton, a sparsely populated area of land to the northwest of the city. The land was part of the Hillsborough House estate which was being sold off by the Dixons. It was successfully bought for £5,000 plus costs. Soil was dumped at both ends of the ground to level out the ground which was initially meadowland covered with dandelions. The 2,000 capacity stand at Olive Grove was then transported to the new site and was joined by a newly built 3,000 capacity stand for the start of the next season. The first match to be played was on 2 September 1899 against Chesterfield. The match was kicked off by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield William Clegg, himself a former Wednesday player. It was a Chesterfield player, Herbert Munday, who scored the first goal at the new stadium but Wednesday came back to win the game 5–1. Despite the location of the ground several miles outside the city boundaries and a poor public transport service the new ground averaged 3,000 supporters for the first three months.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The ground was known as the "Owlerton Stadium" until 1914, when it was renamed "Hillsborough" to coincide with a series of ground improvements. The ground took its new name from the newly created parliamentary constituency. The ground proved to be lucky for Wednesday with the first 8 years proving to be their most successful so far. They included their first league wins in the 1902–03 and


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The first FA Cup semi-final to be held at the stadium was a replay between West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn Rovers on 3 April 1912. A crowd of 20,050 saw an extra time goal give West Brom the win. This was followed by its first international on 10 April 1920. A match between England and Scotland was watched by 25,536. The game ended with England winning 5–4. The following two seasons saw Hillsborough host two more FA Cup semi-finals, both between Preston North End and Tottenham Hotspur. The crowds for these matches were 43,320 and 49,282 respectively. The highest ever attendance was 72,841 on 17 February 1934 for an FA Cup 5th-round game against Manchester City.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: After the end of the 1912–13 season a record profit was announced by the club. The money was invested in a replacement for the Olive Grove stand on the south side of the stadium. The banking on the Spion Kop was also increased in size. The new south stand was completed in time for the first round of the FA Cup on 1 October 1913 against Notts County. It cost £18,000 and included 5,600 seats plus terracing at the front. New offices, dressing rooms, refreshment rooms and a billiard room were also part of the new stand. The second round tie went to a replay on 4 February 1914, which was held in front of a record home crowd of 43,000. However the match was remembered for the collapse of the new retaining wall at the Penistone Road end. It caused 70 injuries and caused the match to be suspended while the casualties were taken to the infirmary.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: During the postwar era, Hillsborough rose to be one of the top stadia in the country. It hosted 27 FA Cup semi-finals. In 1966, the stadium was one of the venues for the Football World Cup, hosting first-round matches involving West Germany, Argentina, Switzerland, and Spain, as well as a quarterfinal in which West Germany beat Uruguay 4–0.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Demolition of the North Stand began in 1960 and work began on a new £150,000 stand. The new stand, designed by local firm Husband & Co, was in length. It was only the second stand in the country, after one at Scunthorpe United's Old Showground, to be built with a cantilever roof and the first to run the full length of the pitch. It was opened on 23 August 1961 by Stanley Rous, secretary of the Football Association. The 10,008 capacity all-seater stand almost doubled the seating capacity of Hillsborough from 9,000 to 16,000.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The ground held its first national cup final in 1977 when it played host to Everton and Aston Villa for a Football League Cup final replay. A crowd of 52,135 watched a 1–1 draw leading to another replay. At the end of the 1980s, the ground held three successive FA Cup semi-finals, ending with the events that changed the nature of football grounds throughout the country.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: On 15 April 1989, the ground was the scene of the worst tragedy in English sporting history when Liverpool faced Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semi-final. During the match, 94 Liverpool fans were crushed to death. Official investigations criticised Sheffield Wednesday for not acting upon previous incidents (especially the 1981 FA Cup semi-final) that had shown the potential for crushing at Hillsborough. The Leppings Lane end of the ground did not hold a valid safety certificate; it had not been updated since 1979.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The recommendations of the Taylor Report led to a series of improvements to safety at grounds across the United Kingdom. The terraces at Hillsborough were converted to all seated accommodation over the following four years, and the fences around the pitch were replaced with low safety-barricades to allow incursion onto the playing surface in case of emergency.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Outside the ground, near the main entrance on Parkside Road, is a memorial to the 96 fans that lost their lives at Hillsborough in 1989, during the FA Cup Semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The memorial was unveiled on the tenth anniversary of the tragedy, 15 April 1999. It reads: "In memory of the 96 men, women, and children who tragically died and the countless people whose lives were changed forever. FA Cup semi-final Liverpool v Nottingham Forest. 15 April 1989. "You’ll never walk alone."" The memorial suffered minor damage in the Hillsborough Flood; however, it was easily and swiftly repaired.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: In 1996, Hillsborough was host to several fixtures at the Euro 96 competition and in particular was host to the Danish squad. The Danish fans endeared themselves to the local population with their fanatical support and exemplary behaviour, and were particularly popular amongst local landlords—a number of Sheffield public houses had to order emergency supplies of beer and cigarettes.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: In 1997 Hillsborough hosted the League Cup Final replay between Leicester City and Middlesbrough, won by Leicester 1–0. Later the same year Middlesbrough returned to Hillsborough for an FA Cup semi-final replay, in which they beat Chesterfield 3–0.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The record attendance since the ground was made all-seated was on 2 February 2000 in a Premier League game against Manchester United watched by 39,640 fans. In recent years, average attendances at Hillsborough have remained high relative to the lower leagues they have participated in:


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: On 25 June 2007, the River Don burst its banks during a period of severe weather in the area and the whole ground was flooded with several feet of water. Changing rooms, restaurants and kitchens, offices and superstore were all affected, with repairs costing millions of pounds. The clean-up effort took months, although Sheffield Wednesday fixtures were only slightly affected as the floods occurred in the close season. A memorial to the floods was unveiled on 25 June 2008 under the South Stand.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The original North Stand was built in 1899–1903 and the current stand was built in 1960–61. It has a capacity of 9,255 seated. The current sponsor for 2018–19 is Chansiri.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The original North Stand was built between 1899 and 1903. It was unique at the time, as it had facilities for both men and women, and a slight semicircle which gave a good view of the pitch at any angle (though the supporting pillars did cause some obstruction). The area at the front of the stand was a grass bank until the early 1900s when it was made into a terrace. The stand was joined to the original North West Terrace until the late 1950s when the club decided to build a brand new stand. The current North Stand was opened in 1961. It is only the second football stand in Britain to have a cantilever roof. Hence some fans know it as 'the cantilever'. It was the first stand in the country to run the entire length of the pitch. The first cantilever stand in English football at Scunthorpe United's Old Show Ground only covered the centre of the pitch. Following the formal opening of the stand in August 1961, a celebration match was played on 22 October 1961 when Wednesday met Santos of Brazil with their new star Pele in the team. Pele's goal helped Santos to a 4–2 win. When opened, the stand held 10,000 but the capacity has been reduced more recently to make room for spectators with disabilities and also to widen the exit aisles for safety.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The architectural critic Sir Nikolaus Pevsner called the cantilever stand "interesting and unexpected". This is the only mention of a football ground in his "Buildings of England" series of architectural guides. The opinion of Simon Inglis, an historian of sports and architecture, is: "There is not a misplaced line in this remarkable stand. From any angle (it) is quite breathtaking. It is like an architect’s model from the 1950s of the dream stand of the future, a space age stand."


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The original west stand was built around 1900 and the current stand was built in 1961–65 with a capacity of 6,658 seated.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The West stand houses the visiting supporters at Hillsborough on match days. It is a two tier structure with 2,494 seats in the lower half, and 4,164 seats in the upper enclosure. The stand is adjoined to the North West Corner which has now had its seats removed and covered with tarpaulin. This stand has not been used for fans since the 2012 2-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers , and most recently has been used as a base for Sky Sports when matches are broadcast


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The original stand, built at the turn of the 20th century, was a covered terrace housing up to 3,000 fans. In the 1920s this was joined by the North West terrace, before the Leppings Lane stand was replaced by a 12,000 capacity partially covered terrace. Before the 1966 World Cup the West Stand was demolished again and completely replaced by a two-tiered structure with 4,471 seats in the upper tier and retaining a standing terrace in the lower tier.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: After the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 the lower tier terrace was closed for two years and its fencing covered with blue tarp for the remainder of the 1988–89 season. The terrace remained closed and out of use for 1989–90, and its fences were removed entirely prior to the 1990–91 season. The lower tier terrace was converted to 2,294 seats and was re-opened prior to the start of the 1991–92 season. The North West Corner was the last section of the stand to be made all seated, adding another 1,337 seats to the existing structure. The old wooden seats in the upper tier were replaced with bigger plastic ones in 1997. During the 2012–13 season the first row of seats was removed from the lower tier, after an incident involving Leeds United supporters when a minor pitch invasion took place. In the summer of 2013 small gates were installed at the front of the gangways for emergency access to the pitch.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The original South Stand was built in 1899–1903 and the current stand was built in 1913–15 and extended in 1995. The total stand capacity is 11,352 (all-seater).


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The largest stand at Hillsborough situated on the banks of the river Don. It has a large lower tier with 8,275 seats (including the directors box) and an upper tier known as the 'Grand Stand' with 3,077 seats. The nearest four blocks of seating to the east on the Upper tier are used as the club's Family enclosure. The first South Stand was first built at Olive Grove, but moved with the club in the summer of 1899 to the new site at Owlerton where it was rebuilt brick by brick. The clock was also moved to Hillsborough. The modern stand, the oldest remaining stand at the ground, was built between 1913 and 1915 for a fee exceeding £17,000 to a design by Archibald Leitch. The stand had 5,600 seats as well as room for 11,000 standing fans. The clock was salvaged from the old stand and put on the new one.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The modern stand has seen a series of improvements, the first being a conversion to an all-seated stand in 1965 ahead of the 1966 FIFA World Cup and latest being a major £7 million re-development for the Euro 1996 international competition when an upper tier (Grandstand) of 3,077 extra seats, a new roof, 30 executive boxes, two conference suites, a bar, a restaurant and a range of office space were added. Again, the clock was saved and put on the new stand. The South Stand still bears the original clock face and finial from the very first stand, which was brought from Olive Grove. The stand houses the main reception, media and hospitality boxes, Press box, Television gantry, as well as the ground's family enclosure, five modern refreshment kiosks and four bars. It also features concourse television sets relaying live coverage of the match as well as highlights at half-time. The team changing room and dug-outs are also situated here.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Spion Kop was built in 1914 with a capacity of 11,210 (seated). In common with several large terraces at English football grounds, it was given this name by supporters, after a hill that was the scene of a battle in the Second Boer War. The Spion Kop is built into a natural hill at the east end of the ground and houses the most vocal of Wednesday's supporters. It is usually simply referred to by fans as The Kop. In 1914 concrete terracing was installed on the bank, which was further extended in 1927. The final expansion of the hill came in 1954. The stand remained open to the elements until a roof was added in 1986 after fans raised money to contribute to the cost. When the roof was added, the stand was 'squared' off to make it symmetrical so that the roof was used fully. Due to this, the Kop was extended, so the capacity rose from 16,000 to 22,000.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: After the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, the stand's blue fences were at first retained. However, for the 1989–90 season, the gates allowing egress to the pitch were painted white and kept open throughout all matches, including the Steel City derby on 21 November 1989. The Kop was the last part of the Wednesday ground to be converted to all-seater accommodation, the change finally coming in 1993 to comply with new FA Premier League regulations following the Taylor Report. The capacity was hence halved, but the Kop remains one of the largest single tier stands in Britain. A large concourse area was added in 2004, partially funded by the Owls Trust.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: North West Corner was originally built in 1919–20 and the current stand was built in January 1965 – May 1966. The North West Corner, or North West terrace as it is sometimes still referred to, despite now being all seated is the only major section of the stadium to remain uncovered (the other area is the Kop Corner). The original North West Terrace was built between 1919 and 1920 to adjoin both the North Stand and West Stand, but was demolished in early 1965 and replaced in mid 1966, in time for the 1966 World Cup. The terrace was not in use for two years, and seats were installed in 1991 along with the Leppings Lane terrace. The stand failed to gain a safety certificate for the 2007–08 season. In recent years it had only been used as overspill for away fans when both the upper and lower tiers of the West Stand have been filled, however in the 2011–12 season, with Wednesday needing to better or match the result of their neighbours to gain promotion on the final day of the season, the Corner was opened to visiting Wycombe Wanderers fans, with the West Stand used by home supporters. Whilst not being used for seating, the Corner has recently been used as extra advertising space, with advertising boards on the back wall, and more recently a large 'My Sheffield Jobs' seat covering appearing alongside their sponsorship of the North Stand. It is sponsored by Handley Brown. This corner is to be roofed, under the Hillsborough stadium Upgrade plans, yet no work has yet been done, due to owners of the nearby terraces complaining. This corner is commonly nicknamed the 'Crows Nest' by Wednesdayites. The corner is still unable to gain a safety certificate and remains unused by fans. Television company Sky use the corner for their temporary studios and technical area for televised games. Prior to the start of the 2021–22 season, the club removed the seats from the terrace, suggesting that the club have officially mothballed the corner for the foreseeable future.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Kop Corner was built in 1986 with a capacity of 400 (though this 400 is included in the overall Spion Kop capacity of 11,210).


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The Kop Corner is a small filling section which is adjoined to the Main Spion Kop. It is the second largest area of the ground to remain uncovered, after the North West Corner. This corner is usually just referred to as part of the Spion Kop, as is its capacity, and it is rare to see it referred to as a separate area. The Kop Corner was a lot larger before the installation of the Spion Kop roof in 1986, but a crane was needed to lift the roof, and the Kop Corner was destroyed so the crane could get in. Part of the corner was rebuilt, which is the present day area. Seats were installed in 1993 to correspond with the Taylor report, as was the rest of the Kop. This area was to be extended, and fully filled in under Sheffield Wednesday's ground renovation plans. The corner is well known amongst Wednesdayites as the location of Paul Gregory, aka 'Tango Man' on match days, along with his 'Wolverhampton Owls' flag and is often referred to as 'Tango's corner' by the Wednesdayites.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The stadium control area is in the southwest area of the ground, between the South and West stands. The most dominant feature is the video scoreboard. The current scoreboard was installed in May 2015 and replaced an older electronic dot-matrix style electronic scoreboard.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The old electronic scoreboard was one of the first electric scoreboards in an English football ground, installed in 1991 in time for the 1991–92 season. For the majority of the match, this showed the score and time, but as of the 2011–12 season, the board showed advertisements every few minutes. Before and after the match, information like team line-ups, fixtures, and other results were shown. The scoreboard had become somewhat of a cult icon of Hillsborough Stadium and Sheffield Wednesday as a whole, loved by the fans for its retro looks and "T-fault", where a series of lights making a T shape light up between animations due to a wiring fault, which had not been fixed on purpose by the club both as a joke and also because of its love by the fans. One of the most popular "T-fault" situations was when announcing the score of fierce rivals Sheffield United – the scoreboard displayed "Shhhhhhhh...", then, after a brief pause, "T", and only then did it announce the score.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Below the scoreboard is the stadium control building, where all the technical aspects of the stadium are controlled (e.g. lighting, announcements, CCTV). At the base of the area is a very small section of disused terrace, which has still not been converted to seating. It is only used as a congregation area for the police and stewards, and has not held fans since the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The Owls Megastore is the official Sheffield Wednesday club shop, underneath the North Stand. It sells all the merchandise, and also the tickets for matchdays. It and the neighbouring ticket office were severely damaged in the Hillsborough Flood. The wall separating the ticket office and club shop was subsequently demolished, and a much larger Owls Megastore opened a few months later, with the ticket office now in one of the corners of the shop. Before the re-development, the Owls Megastore was two-storey, but it has now been changed to one.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: A bridge was built across the River Don in 1996, to provide access to the refurbished South Stand, ahead of Euro 96. It connects Parkside Road and the surrounding area to the main entrance to Hillsborough Stadium.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Several restaurants, such as Dooley's and the Sheridan Suite, are under the South Stand. Other areas include the 1867 Lounge, various bars, and a wide range of office space. Board rooms, meeting halls and business suites are also here.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The stadium is located in the north west of the city roughly three miles from the city centre. The area is mainly residential with a number of shops and a shopping centre located at nearby Hillsborough Corner. Views of the area can be enjoyed from hills located to the west.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The stadium is sandwiched between Hillsborough Park to the south and terrace housing to the north. The River Don also runs alongside the stadium to the south. The Spion Kop backs straight onto Penistone Road, a major dual carriageway leading to the city centre, while there is some space between the West Stand and Leppings Lane.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Sheffield Wednesday did not secure promotion to the Premier League in the 2015–16 season, and so some of the long-term upgrade plans have been delayed. However, in July 2017 some upgrade and improvement works commenced with completion before the first league home game in August 2017.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Upgrades include an increase in the congregation area at the rear of the Kop and installation of a new bar at the rear of the Kop.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Sheffield Wednesday announced in the summer of 2009 plans for a £22 million upgrade of the stadium and an increase in capacity to 44,825 from the current 39,732 with no viewing restrictions. These plans were to be completed by 2013 and would bring the stadium up to FIFA standards for hosting World Cup matches.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Work has not started as of November 2018 with no confirmation on when, or even if, it will start. Planning permission was granted for the entire scheme on 20 October 2009 but due to England not winning the World Cup 2018 bid, redevelopment has been put on hold.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The highest attendance recorded at Hillsborough was in the FA Cup fifth round on 17 February 1934. A total of 72,841 turned up to see a 2–2 draw with Manchester City. The highest attendance recorded since work to convert the stadium to an all-seater venue was completed in 1993 was for a Premier League match against Manchester United on 2 February 2000. The game was watched by 39,640 fans.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The highest seasonal average attendance at Hillsborough was 42,520 in the 1952–53 season in Division 1. The highest average attendance in the second tier of English football was 41,682 in the 1951–52 season, which saw the club gain promotion from Division 2 and Derek Dooley score a record 46 league goals. The highest average attendance in the third tier of English football was achieved in the 2004–05 season when an average of 23,107 fans watched the League One games at Hillsborough.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The lowest average attendance at Hillsborough came in the first season after its opening (1899–1900) when each game was attended by an average crowd of just 6,800 fans, mainly because the new stadium, then called "Owlerton Stadium", was a fraction of the size it is today.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The largest gate receipts taken from a match at Hillsborough was for the Euro 96 game between Turkey and Denmark on 19 June 1996. A crowd of 28,671 watched the match, paying a total of £1,012,150.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Hillsborough still holds the record for the highest attendance for a third tier football match in Britain. 49,309 spectators turned up on 26 December 1979, one of the most memorable days in SWFC history, when the Owls beat Sheffield United 4–0 in a top of the table clash, now known as the Boxing Day Massacre.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The largest receipts for a club game at Hillsborough were for the FA Cup semi-final replay between Chesterfield and Middlesbrough on 22 April 1997 and totalled £680,965. The game was watched by 30,339 fans.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: The highest receipts for a game at Hillsborough involving Sheffield Wednesday was for the Premier League match against Manchester United on 7 March 1998, which was watched by 39,427 fans and earned the club £386,426.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Hillsborough was used as a venue for the 1966 FIFA World Cup and 1996 UEFA European championships. It was also used for some England matches before Wembley Stadium was built.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: It hosted two England under-21 internationals. The first was a 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifying Group 3 match against France's under-21s on 28 February 1984. The hosts thrashed the visitors 6 – 1 with Mark Hateley scoring four goals as well as single goals from Dave Watson and Mel Sterland. The other was a 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 6 match against Poland's under-21s on 11 October 2005. The hosts thrashed the visitors 4 – 1 with Steven Taylor scoring twice as well as single goals from Carlton Cole and Jerome Thomas while Marcin Kikut scored for the visitors with 23,110 in attendance.


title: Hillsborough Stadium

text: Hillsborough Stadium was selected by The FA as a proposed venue for matches as part of the English 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bid on 16 December 2009.


title: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars

text: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars is a 2017 Japanese-American adult computer animated military science fiction film directed by Shinji Aramaki and Masaru Matsumoto and written by Edward Neumeier. The film is a sequel to "" (2012) and the fifth installment of the "Starship Troopers" film series. It also marks the return of two original actors; Casper Van Dien reprises his role as Johnny Rico from the first and films and Dina Meyer reprises her role as Dizzy Flores from the first film.


title: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars

text: After the events of , Johnny Rico has been demoted to the rank of colonel and relocated to a space station orbiting Mars to train a new batch of troopers. Unfortunately, his squad is incompetent. Mars overall has low support for the war, seeing their planet unaffected by the bug conflict and even suggesting pulling out from the war. Because of their laid-back attitude, the denizens of Mars are unprepared for a full-scale bug invasion. Unknown to everyone, Sky Marshal Amy Snapp executes her plans for power.


title: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars

text: Snapp plans to destroy Mars while gaining popular support for doing it. She was well aware of the bug nest growing under Mars for some time but decides to take advantage of the bug attack to gain social and political support to scuttle the whole planet. She stages a fleet attack run on the Arachnid Quarantine Zone (AQZ) as a massive distraction. While no one notices, she plans to capture General Carl Jenkins, then fabricate a story in which the Federation was too distracted in the AQZ to save Mars and had to detonate a Q-Bomb (a planet destroyer whose power was demonstrated in the ) to cleanse the bug threat, thus blaming Jenkins for the loss of Mars.


title: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars

text: During the bug attack, Rico and his team survive the initial assault and manage to land on the Mars surface. While the bulk of the Federation start their attack run on the AQZ, Snapp captures Jenkins and disrupts all communications between Earth and Mars. However, before he was captured, Jenkins telepathically reached out to Carmen Ibanez to return to Mars. Because Ibanez and Jenkins are trusted friends, Carmen redirects her ship back to Mars. Meanwhile, during a bug attack, Rico's troopers are found by a rescue drop ship and everyone makes it on board except for Rico, whom the team presumes dead. When regaining consciousness, Rico sees his dead lover, Dizzy Flores, who died in the first film, who asks him to help stop the Q-Bomb. Unknown to Rico, Dizzy is a telepathic projection from Jenkins. While being beaten and drugged by Snapp, Jenkins manages to telepathically motivate Rico to help stop the Q-Bomb. Snapp then publicly announces the fall of Mars.


title: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars

text: Rico's surviving troopers realize he is alive and return to save him. Upon reuniting, the team heads towards the weather control tower to disarm the Q-Bomb. They overload the tower's systems to improvise a massive explosive device to thin out the enemy forces. With the Fed-Net back online, public reception of Snapp turns negative. Carmen arrives with a drop ship and rescues Rico's surviving team. Once evacuated, the tower's destruction destroys the bugs within its blast radius.


title: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars

text: In the aftermath, Jenkins breaks free from his captors and later returns to power. Rico is promoted back to the rank of general and leads the operation to reclaim Mars, while Snapp's treachery is revealed to the public.


title: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars

text: Following "" (1999) and "" (2012), "Traitor of Mars" is the third CG animated project in the film series' universe. Screenwriter Edward Neumeier (who wrote the first 3 films and directed "") returned to write this entry.


title: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars

text: Development and news of the animated film, made to coincide with the 20th Anniversary of the release of the first film, happened rather discreetly. News of the film emerged on June 5, 2017, when Sony Entertainment debuted a trailer online.


title: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars

text: Fathom Events gave the film a one-night release on August 21, 2017. It released video on demand on August 22, 2017 and home media on September 1, 2017.


title: Jeff Kaplan

text: Jeffrey Kaplan is an American video game designer and former vice president of Blizzard Entertainment, a position he held until he left the company in 2021. He designed elements of "World of Warcraft" and is the former lead director of "Overwatch".