‘All for an extra 8000 seats? It’s nuts’: Gabba Games refit cost could blow out to $2.5bn

The demolition and rebuild of the Gabba as the main venue for the 2032 Olympic Games may be abandoned as the state government conducts a report into why it would spend a fortune on a new stadium for just 8000 extra seats.

The demolition and rebuild of the Gabba as the 2032 Olympic Games’ main venue may be abandoned as the state government conducts a “project validation’’ report into why it would spend a fortune on a new stadium for just 8000 extra seats.

Government sources say the original cost estimate of $1bn for the Gabba’s demolition and rebuild was “laughable’’ and it may well double, or even be as high as $2.5bn.

“All for an extra 8000 seats?’’ an insider said.

“It’s nuts.’’

A spokesman for Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Steven Miles confirmed the Gabba and Brisbane Live, which will likely host the swimming at Roma Street, were in the “project validation report stage’’.

Strategy experts Populis and project management firm RPS have been tasked with examining business cases for both venues.

IOC president Thomas Bach and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Richard Walker

The Gabba currently has a capacity of 42,000 and this would go to 50,000 for the new stadium.

The original aim was to redevelop the Gabba so that it could be used for the athletics and opening and closing ceremonies.

However there are many problems with the site.

The much wider Olympic venue would encroach on Vulture and Stanley streets, and there has even been a suggestion the whole venue would need to be raised so it was level with the Cross River Rail station concourse.

The exorbitant costs will also include expensive land resumptions and relocation of the Brisbane Lions AFL club, and the government is now looking at other options.

These include developing a 50,000-seat stadium at Albion Park racetrack or Doomben racecourse.

Alternatively, the government could use Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

There is also a chance the athletics could be held at another venue, and the opening and closing ceremonies on the Brisbane River, as Paris is doing in the 2024 Olympics with the Seine.

The Metricon option faces stiff resistance from Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, who believe the state’s capital should host these events.

A Labor source said the Gabba situation “has left the Premier in a hole’’.

Supplied artist impression of the proposed Gabba redevelopment if Brisbane won the rights to the 2032 Summer Olympic Games

“Even (former AOC president) John Coates was surprised at the Gabba option,’’ the source said.

“It was a thought bubble and now they’re trying to mop it up.’’

The Lions are “very worried’’ at the prospect of being homeless and having to transfer their games to Springfield, an outer suburban ground.

“They will also lose some prized cricket Tests but the real issue is the Lions … it buggers their business model,’’ a source said.

When the redevelopment of the Gabba was first put to state cabinet with a price tag of $1bn, several ministers questioned whether it was “Cross River Rail all over again’’.

Cross River Rail was given the green light by cabinet at a cost of $5.6bn and that now looks like being at least $9bn due to cost overruns and juicy deals with the unions.

It is also understood that the Gabba redevelopment will be a CFMMEU site, meaning the enterprise bargaining agreements with workers will be even more lucrative than those negotiated for Cross River Rail.

The Townsville Stadium was a CFMMEU site, and the cost of that project ballooned from $200m to $300m.

There is growing concern within the government that the cost of the extra 14 venues for the 2032 Olympics will accelerate quickly in the current inflationary environment and because of supply chain challenges being felt worldwide.

An artist’s impression of the proposed Gabba redevelopment for the 2032 Olympic Games,

There is also concern that the infrastructure delivery authority – the Olympic Co-ordination Authority – is yet to be established.

Residents around the Gabba are also worried about the likely impact of land resumptions, with the East Brisbane Primary School to be resumed.

Uncertainty over the future of the Gabba precinct was evident at budget estimates in July, when Education Minister Grace Grace admitted “we're still stabbing in the dark”.

“Final works on that stadium have not been completed,” she said at the time.

“As Minister for Education, I’m happy for the school to remain where it is.

“We know that they are going to be impacted and we’re not in a cocoon where we don’t see the outside world.

“You are operating in a vacuum: we do not know the footprint, we do not know the design, we’ve got a schematic sketch, we’re still stabbing in the dark, it is still 10 years away.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk with at artist’s impressions at an Olympics media conference at the Gabba. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

Raymond Park and surrounding buildings, including the Pineapple Hotel, may be resumed if the athletics training track is built on the site.

The Gabba will need to be widened by 10m either side, creating mayhem for Vulture and Stanley streets, both major road arteries.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE GABBA?

● Potential cost blowout from $1bn to as high as $2.5bn

● Increased footprint to accommodate running track would force Vulture and Stanley streets beneath the stadium

● Would only grow capacity by 8000 seats

● Relocation of the Brisbane Lions AFL club and Test cricket during construction

● Expensive land resumptions

● Could be a CFMMEU worksite, potentially pushing costs out further

ALTERNATIVES TO THE GABBA

● Develop a 50,000-seat stadium at Albion Park racetrack or Doomben racecourse

● Use Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics for the 2018 Commonwealth Games

● Hold the opening and closing ceremonies on the Brisbane River, as Paris is doing in 2024 with the Seine.

Originally published as ‘All for an extra 8000 seats? It’s nuts’: Gabba Games refit cost could blow out to $2.5bn