Gabba D-day to reveal the future as Brisbane Olympics draws near

There is no match on at the Gabba on Monday but it could be the most significant day in the venue’s history, as big decisions are to come with the Olympics on the horizon.

MONDAY is shaping as the most significant day in the history of the Gabba since Australia’s iconic tied Test with the West Indies more than six decades ago.

Former Lord Mayor Graham Quirk will hand down his review of Olympic venues for the 2032 Games and the fate of the Gabba - to spruce it up, knock it down or give it a lick of paint as Olympic boss Matt Carroll once suggested - is at the top of the list.

The one certainty is the initial suggestion of a full knock-down and rebuild has as much chance of getting up as a refloating of the Titanic.

With a state election just seven months away both parties know such grand spending would be political poison given 80% of Queenslanders say the state cannot afford it.

Queensland cricket officials are on tenterhooks because if nothing happens the venue will be set indefinitely as Australia’s No. 5 Test cricket venue with seemingly no chance to improve this ranking for a decade or more.

Could Test match cricket at the Gabba as we know it be done? Picture: Getty Images

It’s not that the Gabba is a complete shambles as a Test venue - it’s just that the four above it are better.

If a proposal backed by former South Bank chair Steve Wilson takes flight there is a chance the Gabba could be knocked down and the region transformed into a Madison Square Garden-style arena with a 50,000 seat cricket-AFL ground built at Victoria Park.

This proposal has been well received but its greatest hurdle is that it has a deliberate focus on legacy rather than cost-cutting at a time when Olympic hosts are being urged to tighten their belts.

If the Gabba is simply left to be what it is it is likely to be because Quirk prefers a plan suggested by Olympic supremo John Coates to hold the opening and closing ceremonies at Suncorp Stadium which would be renovated to make room for an extra 10 to 15,000 people.

Under this plan the athletics would be held at the same venue which hosted track and field at the 1982 Commonwealth Games – QSAC Stadium – which, back in ‘82, had its temporary stands rocking with joy when Raelene Boyle stormed to victory in the 400m.

How will the Gabba look for the 2032 Olympics? Picture: NewsCorp

It has been stated that a renovated QSAC stadium would become a legacy venue for Queensland athletics but critics of this project say Queensland Athletics does not need a new stadium and that the current one – modest in nature but still spacious and relatively comfortable – suits just fine.

The one certainty about Quirk’s plan is that it will not please everyone. There is simply not enough money to keep all the sports happy.

That means plenty of drama ahead.

It would not be the Games without it.

Originally published as Gabba D-day to reveal the future as Brisbane Olympics draws near