Cairns rectangular stadium: Leaders urge Far North to act on sports precinct plans

Northern leaders are cheering for Cairns to capitalise on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build an Olympic venue and ignite the region’s capacity to attract world-class events.

NORTHERN leaders are cheering for Cairns to capitalise on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build an Olympic venue and ignite the region’s capacity to attract world-class events.

Mayors from Townsville, Mackay and Port Douglas have backed the Cairns Regional Council’s endorsement of the construction of a rectangular stadium and the opportunity to pounce on federal and state funding in the lead up to the Brisbane Games.

It comes after a meeting was held last week between council and key stakeholders about a future project, which would be built next to Barlow Park.

An artist concept of what a future 20,000 seat Cairns stadium could look like. Picture: Gordon Gould Ipson Architects

The state government has already earmarked a $40m-plus allocation to Cairns as a 2032 Olympics satellite city, with Barlow Park to get a major grandstand and lighting upgrade.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said their 12,200 strong BB Print Stadium – which hosted five NRL games this year including two across the semi-final weekend – had been a catalytic development for the city since its construction in 2011 for $12m.

He said Cairns should “grasp the opportunity” to add a state-of-the-art stadium to its list of assets, using a mix of government funding, lucrative sponsorship agreements and ratepayers to fund it.

The Enterprise North proposal for a 20,000 seat stadium in Cairns would cost around $100m, $80m of which could come from the commonwealth and Queensland government.

“This is your chance, and I think Cairns and all regional centres in Queensland should be looking to try and grasp the opportunity,” he said.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson was all smiled when his city secured the NRL semi-finals weekend in Mackay. Picture: Heidi Petith

“Regardless of its seating capacity size, to have a stadium that you can actually present as an attraction to get entertainment and good sporting events I think is critical.

“Major cities on the Queensland coast need an ability to have sporting facilities that will attract elite sports and events and sports people over the next 10 years in the lead-up to the Olympics.”

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said the Queensland Country Bank Stadium, jointly funded by council, state and federal governments, has been a crucial addition to Townsville and its CBD. “It is attracting world-class sporting and cultural events to our city much in the same way as the Cairns Convention Centre, which was recently and significantly refurbished and expanded thanks to funding from the Queensland Government,” she said.

Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr, who wants to transform Port Douglas into a major training base for elite sport through infrastructure upgrades and a new sports master plan, said the sky was the limit for the Far North if a new stadium was built.

“Cairns is like our region’s capital city, it is the entrance as far as connectivity and airlines go,” he said.

“Other than Darwin we are the access point of Asia to this country.

“So the events we could hold here would just be another reason for people to fly into Cairns first before heading south.

“Any major infrastructure such as a stadium would only benefit us as a tourism region and be very advantageous for Cairns.”

Cr Williamson said Mackay ratepayers were happy to fork out a bit extra to attract world-class sport to their rectangular stadium and city, with the NRL already locking matches in for 2022 and three One Day International cricket matches on the way for the city.

Queensland Reds rugby union players Richie Asiata (left) and Joshua Flook (right) with Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson (centre) in Mackay.

He said he would be using the Olympics to draw on cash to increase the venue’s capacity, saying it was a “council asset we could not do without.”

“We couldn’t imagine not having it,” he said.

“We are now looking for expand and increase the size of it to make it a much grander stadium.

“But to have the stadium as it is right now as the starting point, it is an excellent facility in our district.

“It does cost the ratepayers a significant amount of money to run every year, but the return to ratepayers is the ability in our region to have a facility like that to host NRL games and big events.

“It has proved its worth as a community asset many times over.”

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Originally published as Cairns rectangular stadium: Leaders urge Far North to act on sports precinct plans