Hamilton shores up for 14,000-bed Olympic Games athletes village

Hamilton is firming to host a 14,000-bed athletes village for a Brisbane-based 2032 Olympic Games.

The site, six kilometres from the Brisbane CBD, was identified in the International Olympics Committee documents released on Wednesday night when the IOC announced the Brisbane bid would have preferred status.

Part of Brisbane’s Hamilton Northshore area (centre right) is identified as a strong candidate for a 14,000-bed athletes village.Credit: NorthShore

Like the athletes village developed at Southport on the Gold Coast for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the Hamilton athletes village could be repurposed after the Games as a mix of private and public housing.

Brisbane City Council recently finished a $650 million upgrade to Kingsford Smith Drive, increasing connectivity to the site, and it is near the dual Gateway Bridges, providing easy links to Gold and Sunshine coast venues.

It is also close to the proposed new Brisbane Olympic Stadium at Albion.

A second 2000-bed Games village is proposed for the Gold Coast, while a 600-bed athletes day village has been put forward for Maroochydore Central on the Sunshine Coast.

The main stadium, proposed for the Albion Park Raceway site, or the 40,000-seat Gabba, which might be redeveloped by 2032, are suggested as possible venues for the opening and closing ceremonies.

Brisbane has 14 sports venues, the Gold Coast has seven and the Sunshine Coast five under consideration as part of the Olympic bid.

The Hamilton Northshore area is one strong option for the main 2032 Olympic village site.

The Queensland government has long identified Hamilton Northshore as a Priority Development Area.

The suburb includes 50 hectares of Queensland government-owned riverfront land.

A spokesman for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed the site was “certainly part of the planning”.

“All three levels of government now have to get involved to determine the final solution,” he said.

Lord mayor Adrian Schrinner said Brisbane’s preferred bid status was “the best opportunity that our city, our region and our state has had in generations”.

“We can’t let this go to waste,” he said.

Cr Schrinner has called on all levels of government to co-ordinate a decade-long investment boom in south-east Queensland, including the new billion-dollar City Deal, as the Olympic bid progressed.

Sunshine Coast MP Ted O’Brien, who is Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s representative on the Olympic bid leadership group with Ms Palaszczuk and Cr Schrinner, said the bid documents should give the public confidence in the “mammoth amount of work” done so far.

“But the detailed planning process has not yet started,” Mr O’Brien said.

The proposed Brisbane Olympic Stadium at Albion with the proposed Olympic venues lit in the background.Credit: Urbis

“A lot of other options are still under assessment, and we will give them a thorough due diligence to get them right.”

Brisbane hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games and the Gold Coast hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Brisbane also hosted the privately-owned 2001 Goodwill Games run by media magnate Ted Turner, attracting 1300 athletes in 14 sporting competitions.

2032 Olympic Games: Where the sports may be contested

Brisbane

• Lang Park - football and rugby
• Ballymore Stadium - hockey
• Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre - table tennis, fencing, taekwondo and badminton
• Brisbane Showgrounds - equestrian
• Victoria Park -  BMX freestyle,  cross country
• Brisbane Live arena (Roma Street) - swimming and water polo
• Brisbane Olympic Stadium at Albion - opening ceremony, athletics, basketball
• South Bank forecourt - archery
• South Bank piazza - basketball 
• New Brisbane indoor sports venue - basketball
• Anna Meares Velodrome, Chandler - track cycling and BMX racing
• Chandler Sports Centre - gymnastics
• The Gabba - suggested alternative for opening and closing ceremonies.
• Queensland Tennis Centre - tennis
• New Larapinta venue - canoeing

Ipswich

• Ipswich Stadium - pentathlon

Redland

• Proposed whitewater centre for canoeing

Gold Coast

• Coomera Indoor Sports Centre - volleyball
• Broadwater Parklands - triathlon, aquatics
• Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre - volleyball, weightlifting
• Gold Coast Aquatic Centre - swimming
• Royal Pines Resort - golf

Sunshine Coast

• Alexandra Headland -  road cycling, marathon, walk racing, sailing, kiteboarding
• Sunshine Coast Stadium - football
• Sunshine Coast Convention Centre - basketball

Athletics was then held at the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre, then known as ANZ Stadium, with gymnastics at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The Olympics have previously been held in Australia at Sydney in 2000 and Melbourne in 1956.