Brisbane’s Olympic dream: A mega precinct backflip on swimming stadium looms

A state-of-the-art swimming arena to be built across the road from a new Victoria Park stadium is firming as a surprise Brisbane 2032 Olympic option.

Artist impressions of the National Aquatics Centre proposed for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. Credit: Archipelago Architects.

A state-of-the-art swimming arena to be built across the road from a new Victoria Park stadium is firming as a surprise Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games mega-precinct.

Highly placed sources have revealed the state government is considering scrapping the original plan of hosting swimming in a drop-in pool at the proposed Brisbane Arena and instead build an inner-city National Aquatics Centre.

It could be constructed alongside the Centenary Pool and connected to a new 60,000 seat stadium at Victoria Park by a green corridor built over the Inner City Bypass — in a mega-precinct incredibly similar to a proposal floated by a leading architecture firm in 2021.

The ambitious new plan is expected to be approved over the weekend ahead of Premier David Crisafulli unveiling the world-class Games venues blueprint on March 25 at The Courier-Mail’s Future Brisbane lunch.

The state-of-the art swim centre — which peak aquatic sporting bodies have fervently called for — would be a major legacy venue of the Games and make Brisbane Australia’s water sports powerhouse.

But it would come at the expense of the Brisbane Arena — a $2.5bn indoor entertainment venue funded by the federal government.

It’s a move that aligns with a behind the scenes push by State Development Minister Jarrod Bleijie to axe the arena and instead spread the money across other venues.

The state government would need their federal counterparts consent to spend the $2.5bn elsewhere, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as recently as Thursday had been adamant the arena remained a priority.

Artist impressions of the National Aquatics Centre proposed for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. Credit: Archipelago Architects.

According to highly placed sources the key reasons for the state government’s switch to a Victoria Park mega-precinct was the embarrassment organisers feared after the success of last year’s Paris Games and ambitious plans for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Peter Edwards, the founder of architect firm Archipelago and the brains behind the Victoria Park idea, said the state government seemed to have left the door open to delivering mega-precinct.

“Nothing has presented itself to date that has closed the door on the opportunity for the National Aquatics Centre to be delivered as part of our plan for 2032,” he said.

Mr Edwards’ Brisbane Bold plan involves covering the section of Inner City Bypass adjacent to Victoria Park to add hectares of open space.

The main stadium would be within a 20 minute walk of three train stations — including Exhibition on the $6.3bn Cross River Rail.

And the aquatics precinct would be just 1.5km away from Brisbane’s night-life heart in the Fortitude Valley.

Artist impressions of the National Aquatics Centre proposed for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. Credit: Archipelago Architects.

The National Aquatics Centre envisioned by a coalition of peak aquatic sporting bodies including Swimming Australia, Diving Australia, Water Polo Australia and Artistic Swimming Australia includes a main indoor pool to seat 19,350 spectators for the 2032 Games.

There would be a main and secondary stadium featuring two large indoor pools capable of hosting swimming, artistic swimming, water polo and diving.

The main pool would then revert to 5850 seats in legacy mode – while the second indoor pool would have 5000 seats before being scaled back to 2500.

Under the existing 2032 venue plan swimming would be held at a drop-in pool inside a 15,000 seat Brisbane Arena at Roma St.

Artistic swimming, diving, water polo and Paralympic aquatics would be held at a refurbished Brisbane Aquatic Centre at Chandler.

Mr Edwards, who also drew up the architectural vision of the National Aquatics Centre, said the drop-in pool at the planned Brisbane Arena didn’t offer the same legacy value for water sports.

Artist impressions of the National Aquatics Centre proposed for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. Credit: Archipelago Architects.

“When we go to an Olympics and we weigh our result in gold, it is provided by our performance in the pool and swimming, diving, water polo,” he said.

“Queenslanders are the best swimmers in Australia and Australia are the best swimmers in the world … how can we not have a legacy centre.”

The coalition of peak aquatic bodies on Friday issued a last-ditch plea for the NAC to be made a reality.

“This is the greatest opportunity we have to deliver a true Olympic and Paralympic legacy – for the aquatic sports and the community – from the 2032 Games,” Swimming Australia CEO Rob Woodhouse said.

But others, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, have argued the Brisbane Arena is needed beyond the 2032 Games.

Choosing not to build the $2.5bn arena would also leave Brisbane without a major inner-city indoor entertainment venue when the city is thrust on to the world stage in 2032.

In another major Games shake-up, a Brisbane Games ally has been elected to the highest job in Olympics bureaucracy.

Zimbabwean sports minister and former swimmer Kirsty Coventry will become the next president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), marking a monumental shift for one of the oldest and most conservative sporting bodies in the world.

Newly-elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

She is also the chair of the co-ordination commission for the Brisbane Olympics– a position she will have to vacate as she takes IOC’s top job.

The 41-year-old, who made her Olympic debut at Sydney in 2000, became the first woman, the first African and the youngest person to be appointed as president, a role often described as the most influential in all of sport.

Originally published as Brisbane’s Olympic dream: A mega precinct backflip on swimming stadium looms