Olympic bid 2032: Kawana indoor sports centre concept venue rivals Maroochydore CBD convention centre
A new indoor sports centre concept planned for Kawana to host 2032 Olympic events was non-existent when a major deal was struck to develop the Maroochydore CBD.
Sunshine Coast
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A new indoor sports facility proposed for Kawana as part of a 2032 Olympic bid didn't exist when Sunshine Coast Council signed a major deal with Walker Corporation to develop the Maroochydore CBD, it can be revealed.
Details of the Brisbane Olympic bid released earlier in June included a new indoor sports facility at the Kawana Sports Precinct or a convention centre at the Maroochydore CBD to host basketball preliminaries.
However, a Walker Corporation spokesman has confirmed the Kawana option "did not exist at the time of entering into the deal".
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The Daily reported Walker Corporation was handed control of the Coast's new CBD in November 2020.
A Sunshine Coast Council spokeswoman confirmed the Kawana sports precinct was "conceptualised in March 2021".
A new convention and exhibition centre had long been mooted as a key feature of the new city centre.
Its ability to host Olympic events such as basketball preliminaries had garnered support from a range of Coast identities as bid momentum grew.
The spokeswoman said the Kawana option was hatched once the council became aware of "the risks to the Sunshine Coast of securing basketball preliminaries".
This comes after a council spokeswoman earlier last week said securing the basketball preliminaries was "of paramount importance" to the bid partners which included the council and Fairfax MP Ted O'Brien.
She said the Future Host Commission had questioned the need for a second basketball facility outside of Brisbane on two occasions and that had sparked the Kawana Sports Precinct option.
She said the Committee's Future Host Questionnaire required guaranteed venues that could be delivered for the 2032 Olympics.
"Given the short time frames to produce the guarantees (April 26, 2021), the venue that council could guarantee in that time frame based on the funding contributions proposed by the federal and Queensland governments is the option for Kawana," the spokeswoman said.
"This is due to that site having no obvious prohibitive characteristics for an indoor stadium development, the site is more development ready than any Maroochydore city centre site and a proposed indoor centre is consistent with the current zoning in the Kawana sports precinct."
A Walker Corporation spokesman said a convention centre at Maroochydore city centre's precinct 2 could be ready for the Olympics.
The council spokeswoman said neither option was "locked in at this time".
"(The) council has not rejected the Maroochydore City Centre option," she said.
Fairfax MP Ted O'Brien said both options would be assessed and the region would have to consider two decades' worth of benefits when deciding on a venue.
"If we are successful in securing the Games and a new community hub to host preliminary basketball the question for the Sunshine Coast community is what legacy do we want," he said.
The council spokeswoman said there was a need for a convention centre.
But she said the council had also identified an undersupply of indoor courts, which was magnified when the Caloundra Indoor Stadium was used as a makeshift mass vaccination centre earlier in June.
She said the region had a shortfall of eight indoor courts, which would grow to 14 by 2032.
The International Olympic Committee was due to determine the successful bidder on July 21.
"Regardless of which location and facility is assessed to be most appropriate, demand and need for the other project will not disappear and council's advocacy for that infrastructure will continue," the council spokeswoman said.
Originally published as How Kawana emerged as Games venue 'rival' to new CBD
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