Opinion: Learn from the stadium dogs Brisbane, Sydney were left with

Both Brisbane and Sydney have been left with dogs of stadiums by Games past. Here’s how we can get it right for 2032, write Steve and Jane Wilson.

It is hardly surprising that challenges have emerged as the real task of planning the venues for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games begins. But we have to get this right, and so it is good the government has enlisted former Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk to do a review – as it is right to ask if the existing plans are fit for purpose and likely to leave a legacy that our communities and people will be proud of.

The legacy of stadiums is not always good – indeed some are bad. The lens of review therefore should learn from successes and failures.

In Australia, leading the good list is the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is an exemplar. In 1956, when Melbourne was home to 1.6 million people – less than half Greater Brisbane’s population today – the leaders created the “G”, which in turn led to the National Tennis Centre and other stadia in what is one of the world’s greatest precincts. Can anyone imagine Melbourne or Victoria without it?

Sydney, however, is another story. Seeing Queenslander Cathy Freeman win gold in the 400m at the 2000 Games was a defining moment of “the world’s best Olympics”, but sadly Homebush stadium is a dog.

It is the wrong shape for our primary winter sports and it is in the wrong place – being far from the centre of the city. Imagine if Sydney had done a Melbourne and had its Games at Moore Park, where the SCG and new football stadium are. That precinct would be world-famous.

In Brisbane we came of age with the Commonwealth Games and Expo in the 1980s, but we have been left with two dogs and one great success.

The Brisbane Entertainment Centre and QSAC (the former QEII) are dogs, whereas South Bank is the Expo site that has become the jewel in our city’s crown.

The lessons are clear for us as we cast our attention to 2032: We need to build or repurpose facilities for sports our community play, near public transport, and in a way that stimulates fun precincts. We need more of the MCG and less of Homebush.

We should also always ask – can we be world-famous for this venue? Can it have a soul? Will the locals embrace it? That’s what works and in turn becomes a venue people want to visit. Build it for the locals and the visitors will come.

And so here is our proposal for a Golden Triangle of venues for 2032 – or a three for the price of two model.

An early concept by Urbis of an Olympic precinct at Victoria Park

The main stadium should be constructed at Victoria Park, with a capacity of around 48,000 people. It would save us $1bn on the current plans for the Gabba, and could be used in the future by both cricket and AFL.

This would be brilliantly serviced by public transport, and it is just blocks from Fortitude Valley’s restaurants and bars. It would also become the centrepiece of an exciting Kelvin Grove to Victoria Park and Ballymore green corridor.

The indoor arena – sometimes called Brisbane Live – should be built at Woolloongabba. It should have a capacity of 19,000 – the same size as Madison Square Garden in New York City, but brand new and better. It would also be $700m cheaper than the current – challenging – proposal at Roma St.

The public transport is excellent and it would allow the extension of the South Bank Arbour – with connections to the city, river and urban renewal of Woolloongabba and Stanley St for housing and lifestyle.

Finally, we should expand Suncorp Stadium to a capacity of 65,000. That would cost far less than the $1.7bn saved from the first two venue changes, and so substantial savings would be left over for other Games venues and connection strategies.

It would make Suncorp among the best rectangular stadia in the world, with a capacity that means we could host an NRL grand final, the Rugby World Cup, big international soccer games and Taylor Swift! Suncorp is brilliant but it is too small even today, and will be tired in a decade or two.

These three venues are each approximately 2km from the GPO – and on a map forms a Golden Triangle that encases South Bank, the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, Howard Smith Wharves, Dexus’s new Waterfront Precinct, the Botanical Gardens and Queens Wharf.

We also believe a Brisbane River Development Authority should be established to expedite decisions and bring together the bureaucracies that have prevented us from having a cohesive whole of River to Bay strategy for more than 30 years.

There is no way an opening ceremony showcasing our amazing river would be possible without it – and that is what we should be doing for the 2032 ceremonies: think of Riverfire meets a reinvigorated River Festival.

Finally, too much time has been wasted.

We must now bank the commitment of both sides of federal politics to go halves in the funding for the Games. Queenslanders are then up for about $400m per annum, or less than 5 per cent of our annual state budget of $87bn, to deliver a Games – and legacy – we can be truly proud of.

Come on, let’s go for Gold and build things we will actually use and be proud of. The alternative is to confirm that our capital is still really just a big country town.

Steve Wilson AM is a former chairman of both South Bank and the Committee for Brisbane. Jane Wilson AO is a company director.