$2.6 billion: The cost of gaining nothing from the Olympic Games

The 60-day review of venues for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brisbane has recommended the Gabba be demolished - and not rebuilt.

While the Queensland government has set aside $2.7 billion to replace the stadium on the Woolloongabba site, the independent review panel has instead recommended a new stadium be built at Victoria Park in the city’s inner north.

The panel, headed by former Liberal lord mayor Graham Quirk, visited dozens of sites and considered hundreds of submissions. They found the Gabba was in worse shape than many believed, and not worth rebuilding.

The cost of bringing the Gabba up to code was estimated at $1 billion.Credit: Jono Searle/Getty

The cost of a new stadium at Victoria Park has been estimated at $3.4 billion, and none of the alternatives considered by the panel would have achieved significant savings.

The panel found the cheapest option for a Brisbane Olympic stadium was just $800 million less – and the city would effectively gain nothing from it.

That option was to spend $1.6 billion refurbishing the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre at Nathan, which was known as QEII Stadium when it hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games. Under the proposal considered but rejected by the panel, temporary stands would be used to create a 40,000-seat stadium – the smallest in recent Olympic history – and leaving just 14,000 seats post-Games.

But if Brisbane was to retain an oval stadium for cricket and AFL, another $1 billion would need to be spent simply to bring it up to code if it were to remain operational beyond 2032.

“It is important to note that this investment would not improve the capacity or functionality of the stadium, nor would it materially enhance spectator or stadium user experiences,” the report finds.

The Quirk review recommended the Gabba remain operational until a new stadium at Victoria Park could be built. As Brisbane Times revealed on Sunday, that recommended stadium and its associated infrastructure was estimated to cost $3.4 billion.

That price tag would be partially offset by the saving of up to $360 million, which would have been needed to address the displacement of cricket and AFL during the Gabba rebuild. Under the Victoria Park option, both sports would remain at the Gabba until after the Games, when they would move into the new stadium.

The Gabba would then be demolished and the site repurposed.

As for QSAC, $1.6 billion would be needed to demolish and replace the permanent western stand (the other stands at the venue were meant to be temporary when constructed for the 1982 Commonwealth Games) and build a podium for temporary stands during the Olympics.

After the Games, the stadium would hold just 14,000 – 34,500 less than it does now. Not that it sees many big crowds these days, as the stadium is primarily used for athletics carnivals and elite training.

The review noted that, should the government decide to go with the QSAC option, there would be “significant disruption” for Olympic athletes preparing to compete, as many of them trained at the venue.

“The site has very poor accessibility when compared to the alternative stadium sites reviewed by the panel and when compared to most other stadiums across Australia,” the Quirk report found.

The Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre at Nathan, which hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games.Credit: Harrison Saragossi

“Even with significant transport investments, the site would still have relatively poor connectivity to broader south-east Queensland communities.”

The Quirk review found the QSAC option was not value for money and was “very hard to justify”.

“When accessibility challenges are then considered alongside a variety of other compromises needed to stage the track and field events, the QSAC option becomes less attractive – and with minimal additional benefits to the current facility for a lasting legacy when compared to the demand and use currently,” the panel found.

“...The review panel also notes that this legacy outcome essentially returns QSAC Stadium to its current functional state, albeit with a more modern western stand and with the current temporary seating (from the Commonwealth Games 1982) removed,” the review found.