A new stadium would give Brisbane Games its wow factor

Every Olympic city has its “wow factor” and John Coates believes the architecture of southeast Queensland will influence how the Olympics are remembered.

AOC president John Coates says the eyes of four billion people will be on Brisbane

Every Olympic city has its “wow factor” and while John Coates baulks at suggesting Brisbane needs a new main stadium to round off its 2032 Games preparations, he believe the architecture of southeast Queensland will hugely influence how the Olympics are remembered.

Brisbane is already benefiting from its new status as the International Olympic Committee’s preferred candidate for the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics, with plans coming to light on Thursday to stage the world aquatic championships in 2031 in the Queensland capital as a test event.

But while Australian Olympic Committee president Coates acknowledges that the IOC – of which he is also vice-president – is more than comfortable with staging the athletics at Carrara and using Suncorp Stadium as the first rectangular venue ever for an Olympic opening and closing ceremony, he is also conscious of showing the city off to the world.

“There is no doubt that Olympic cities are recognised for their stadiums,” Coates told The Australian. “That’s how they will be remembered. The eyes of the world will be on you – some four billion people for the opening ceremony.

“In my heart of hearts, we can make do with Carrara, we can do Suncorp, but we have 11 years until the Games. Let’s see how Brisbane evolves, what other sports want to come here, what the demand is.”

But Coates was adamant that Brisbane should not construct a main stadium solely for the Olympics. The whole thrust of the “New Norm” philosophy governing how the IOC views the Games and their affordability is that host countries do not need to go bankrupt just to stage the Olympics. “And I have to be very careful as the IOC representative not to say that a stadium is a must. But if it is something that Brisbane should have so that it can compete for other events …”

Asked to nominate what he meant by “wow factor”, Coates nominated Optus Stadium in Perth as a prime example. “We would happily have that stadium in Brisbane,” he quipped.

But given that transcontinental levitation appears to be out of the question, Brisbane has to face whether it is prepared to go down the same path as Perth to achieve a state-of-the-art facility. The cost of the stadium to Western Australia was $1.8 billion, with cost blowouts and delays initially souring the whole experience. However, in the two years since it opened, it has earned nothing but praise.

Still, Optus Stadium was a stand-alone venture. A new Brisbane stadium – in addition to arguably the world’s best rugby/rugby league ground, Suncorp Stadium, and the oval at the Gabba – might have to come within a budget of $4.5 billion. That is a hefty sum but it needs to be offset against the anticipated growth in tourism over the next 15 years of around $20.2 billion, while export trade is tipped to ruse by around $8.6 billion.

The Queensland Government is understood to be looking at three different sites for a possible new stadium – the greyhound track at Albion, the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games main stadium at Carrara or the Gabba where, seemingly, a section of Main Road would need to be lowered to allow the cricket ground to be open to direct pedestrian access from the transport hub across the road. Given that the venue would be used for track and field, there also needs to be sufficient land for a warm-up track, not just a competition track.

There is no question that if Brisbane does get the 2032 Olympics – and only a major self-inflicted wound is likely to stop it now – its standing as a global sporting destination over the next decade will be significantly enhanced.

Case in point is the mooted world aquatic titles in 2031 which FINA vice-president Matt Dunn revealed on Wednesday was being discussed as a very real possibility. “Ultimately nothing has been decided yet but if Brisbane were to win the Olympics, it would be the ultimate test event to hold a world titles there,” Dunn said.

Although the planned Swimming Hall would be a 14-15,000-seat indoor facility – even Brisbane gets chilly during the July-August dates anticipated for the Games – a drop-in, drop out pool still would be used. That is relatively rare for Australia, although a temporary facility was used for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games swimming events, but as Dunn remarked, FINA has grown accustomed to staging world championships and Olympic Games in such pools since the 2001 world championships in Fukuoka.

The other major Olympic sports searching for a legacy venue out of the 2032 Olympics are rowing and sprint canoeing. Both have lived a fairly nomadic existence in Queensland over the decades but it may well be that the Games will offer an opportunity to provide them with a home at Larapinta in Brisbane’s outer southern suburbs.