Cairns councillors kept in the dark on Barlow Park upgrade project validation process
A Cairns company behind much of the city’s most recognisable architecture has been awarded a contract for a major stage in the Barlow Park upgrade project.
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A Cairns company behind much of the city’s most recognisable architecture has been engaged as part of a major stage in the Barlow Park upgrade project.
Queensland’s Department of Public Works has engaged CA Architects, the design company behind the Cairns Performing Arts Centre and Munro Martin Parklands, to conduct design work as part of a project validation report’s principal consultant process.
A spokeswoman for the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning said CA Architects was engaged in a joint venture with Cox Architecture.
“We have engaged Capital Insight as the successful tenderer to deliver the project validation report for Barlow Park. Capital Insight has engaged a subcontractor based in Cairns to assist in conducting this work,” the spokeswoman said.
“The purpose of project validation reports is to provide assurance to decision-makers regarding the anticipated scope, costs, risks and delivery planning associated with the proposed investment.”
The spokeswoman said the department engaged Turner and Townsend, which has a Cairns office, as quantity surveyor and Brisbane-based SJA Construction Services as programmer.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said “project validation” was close to completion.
“Once we have that (report) we are going to get the details,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“Cairns is going to become an Olympic city. They’ll be hosting football preliminaries here; it’s the most popular Olympic sport.
“Five billion people will be watching the Olympics and Cairns is going to be front and centre.”
News of Cairns companies being engaged for the project validation report surprised Cairns’ mayor Bob Manning.
“I was not aware it reached that stage,” Mr Manning said.
“I don’t know what the scale of the project is at the moment. That’s something council officers need to brief us on.”
On Wednesday the Cairns Post revealed state government concept plans for Barlow Park that included a new 5000-seat grandstand and 15,000 temporary seats to ready the facility for 2032 Olympic events.
In August the Cairns Regional Council also approved a $8.35m lighting upgrade for the facility.
Mr Manning said upgrades to Barlow Park should not be short-sighted.
“Council does not want to see something short-sighted. We want something that’s got a long-term future and possibly multiple uses,” he said.
“We should always be striving for the most impressive proposal, beyond 2032.
“The council really is responsible for getting the best outcome on this.”
Carlo Amerio, the director of CA Architects, said he was unable to comment on the project viability report, sometimes referred to as a preliminary business case, due to a confidentiality agreement.
Cairns Regional Council CEO Mica Martin said council was involved in the validation process and councillors would be briefed “in the coming weeks”.
“In March 2023 council unanimously resolved to work collaboratively with the Queensland Government on the planning and delivery of Olympic Legacy upgrades at Barlow Park including joining the Barlow Park Project Control Group,” Ms Martin said.
“An updated presentation to councillors on the status of that planning work, including the project validation report process, is scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.”
On Wednesday morning the Premier hosted a 2032 Olympics business opportunities presentation at the completed Cairns Convention Centre.
Cairns Chamber CEO Patricia O’Neill said the small business sector in Cairns should compete confidently for tenders leading up to the Olympic Games.
She said a plethora of product delivery and service provision opportunities would be available to various types of enterprises in Cairns and business owners should keep a close watch on tenders being released through the Queensland Government’s QTender portal.
Originally published as Cairns councillors kept in the dark on Barlow Park upgrade project validation process
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