Toowoomba Sports Ground: Western Clydesdales CEO reveals vision for stadium if 2032 Olympic Games upgrade goes ahead

The head of Toowoomba’s top-tier rugby league side has unveiled a vision for a “high performance centre” as part of a proposed $80m upgrade of the city’s stadium. But questions still remain unanswered by the state government.

Toowoomba Sports Ground is ideal for an Olympic upgrade, according to Western Clydesdales CEO Shane Sullivan.

An upgrade of the Toowoomba Sports Ground could create a new high-performance centre for many of the region’s top sports, featuring administration spaces, training areas and gym facilities.

That’s according to the chief executive of the Western Clydesdales Shane Sullivan, who has backed the reported $80m renovation of the stadium to create a “legacy” for the city both during and after the 2032 Olympic Games.

The revamp of the ground, also known as Clive Berghofer Stadium, has become the subject of controversy after the Toowoomba Regional Council narrowly voted to endorse a positive submission towards its inclusion in the slate of venues for the games.

The submission will be included as part of a 60-day review of venues by former Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, with his panel to deliver their findings to Infrastructure Minister Grace Grace by March.

Western Clydesdales CEO Shane Sullivan.

The vote was heavily debated by councillors, while Groom MP Garth Hamilton and sporting clubs threatened with relocation next to the stadium attacked the decision as “disappointing”.

Mr Sullivan, whose club lodged a positive submission to Mr Quirk’s review, said the wellbeing of those clubs and neighbouring residents needed to be considered with the final design.

He argued the stadium would deliver strong sporting and economic benefits to Toowoomba.

“The council’s decision is positive — the stadium development is a positive for Toowoomba and the region, from a sporting and economic point of view,” Mr Sullivan said.

“Having an upgraded venue to support larger and different events will be a huge difference moving forward.

“We’re respectful of the surrounding residents — I fully support the relocation of the three other sports, and we’ll do whatever we can to support them through that process.”

Mr Sullivan said he envisioned a facility that could house a number of different sports under one roof, pointing to rugby league, rugby union and football as obvious options.

“The upgrade of the stadium would allow the Western Clydesdales to have a high-performance centre, and will be highly valuable for other sports,” he said.

“My suggestion was for a sports house, where you can have multiple sports offices based within the stadium.

“From the perspective of transport and access into the facility, I see the redevelopment and changing of the orientation of the gates would require less need for parking, and some education around the use of Queens Park.

“Between improved parking to the city and bus services to the grounds, that will improve that situation.”

It comes as the Toowoomba Chamber expressed its support for the upgrade of the TSG, provided impacts on residents, sporting clubs and Toowoomba East State School could be mitigated.

“The board’s initial position was that the preferred location was identified as being in North Toowoomba for a new stadium,” chief executive Todd Rohl said.

“Since this work has been done, we understand that the redevelopment of the Toowoomba Sports Ground is the only option for Toowoomba as part of the Olympics infrastructure upgrades.

Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Rohl. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“On that basis, it was agreed the Chamber would not compromise the opportunity for a potentially $50-$100 million spend on TSG to enable the city to secure a world-class facility, national events and bring investment and spending into the city and directly into the pockets of local businesses who employ our residents.

“We also identified the need for careful consideration around key matters like, the interface with adjoining uses, transport connectivity, parking, links to the CBD, acoustics and lighting, heritage, location of like and associated land uses.

“We also identified the need for consultation with surrounding residents and one of Toowoomba’s largest public primary schools.”

A spokeswoman for Ms Grace said the report based on Mr Quirk’s findings would be released “as quickly as possible”.

It is understood Mr Quirk and the panel toured the stadium last week.

But the state government has still not explained how the findings feed into the project validation process being carried out by the Office of Olympic and Paralympic Infrastructure and Regional Strategy (OPIO), which is independent of the review.