New 25,000-seat stadium in Darwin CBD needed to secure a slice of Olympic Games glory, supporters say
Could Darwin one day host events for the Brisbane Olympics or a Australian-hosted Commonwealth Games? Not without a major new 25,000-seat stadium, supporters of the proposal say.
Northern Territory
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A NEW state-of-the-art sporting stadium on the edge of Darwin’s CBD could be just the ticket to secure a slice of Olympic glory, proponents of the idea have claimed.
The Chief Minister Michael Gunner has also floated the idea of allowing athletes to run a marathon around Uluru during the Games.
The push for the 25,000-seat arena has been gathering pace in recent years, with estimates that a venue on the corner of McMinn St and Garramilla Blvd would only cost $300m.
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But now AFLNT chairman Sean Bowden has seized on Brisbane winning the 2032 Olympic Games to argue the Top End could get its own piece of piece of the action.
Among those Mr Bowden has enlisted to design the Darwin facility is Lawrence Nield, who was involved in designing Sydney’s Olympic venues.
Mr Bowden has previously received in-principle support from the Chamber of Commerce and Australian Hotels Association of the NT.
“Having a facility with the capacity to host events for an Olympic and Commonwealth Games is one of the reasons we think this stadium works for Darwin and the Northern Territory.”
Mr Bowden said the stadium could be built and operational by 2032, within 11 years’ time.
Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce indicated the federal government would need to help fund the project.
“An iconic, world-class stadium would’ve put us in the hunt to secure Olympic action and potentially opened federal wallets,” Mr Bruce said.
“We’d like to see the stadium included in all future discussions about what the key future tourism infrastructure improvement that Darwin needs to really take us to the next level.
“We think a strong sports tourism offering is critical for us maintaining competitiveness with Cairns and Townsville.”
The push for the new stadium has previously been linked to turning Darwin into a “true capital city” and even host events from our Asian neighbours, such as games from the Indian Premier League and cricket.
Mr Bowden previously said construction could begin by 2026.
Other similar sized Australian cities have recently pursued stadiums, including Townsville in North Queensland, which hosted State of Origin earlier this year.
Mr Gunner said creative ways to incorporate the Games into the Territory were worth investigating.
“I’m confident that Traditional Owners would support staging the marathon around Uluru,” he said.
Mr Gunner said the NT would promote itself heavily as the “real Australia” when tourists flock from around the world to Queensland.
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