Exact location of Victoria Park stadium yet to be decided

The exact location of Brisbane’s main Olympic stadium has not been determined, though one thing is certain – it will be somewhere within Victoria Park.

Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority chairman Stephen Conry said on Wednesday the artistic render released when Victoria Park was announced was indicative only.

That image, with the stadium at the southern end of the park, came from a submission to GIICA during its 100-day review, but the precise location and design for Brisbane Stadium was still to be determined.

The Brisbane Stadium render released by the Queensland government this week.Credit: Queensland government

The previously publicised Brisbane Bold proposal from architectural firm Archipelago had the stadium further east, and closer to the Inner City Bypass.

Last year’s 60-day venue review, commissioned by then-premier Steven Miles, recommended a new stadium for Victoria Park. The head of that review team, former lord mayor Graham Quirk, told this masthead last year their preferred location was the site of the existing golf club and car park.

Tuesday’s release of the review, and the government’s response, sets the scene for more detailed work to be done.

Archipelago’s Victoria Park stadium proposal.Credit: Archipelago

“There are lots of renders, there are lots of ideas around a stadium,” Conry said.

“Various proposals were put forward. The final design, of course – the final site within Victoria Park – is now to be resolved.”

The venue, which GIICA recommended be called Brisbane Stadium in perpetuity, thus ruling out a naming rights sponsor, would host athletics, track and field, and the opening and closing ceremonies in 2032.

While most stakeholders have welcomed the decision – with the notable exceptions of the Save Victoria Park group, the Greens and the Labor state opposition – Australian Athletics has expressed some reservations.

Chief executive Simon Hollingsworth said Australian Athletics had presented two preferred options to GIICA – for the warm-up track to be kept as a permanent competition venue, or a modest upgrade of QSAC that could be funded in part by the recycling of the temporary aluminium stands, which were installed for the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

Conry said the planned warm-up track, which GIICA recommended be located on the other side of Gilchrist Avenue to the stadium, could be retained as a permanent legacy.

“It won’t be a temporary facility necessarily – it can be a long-term facility with a car park underneath it,” he said.

Hollingsworth said Australian Athletics would welcome any new community facility, but a competition-grade venue was a must.

“As it currently stands, unless something is done, Brisbane will not have an international and national standard venue, and it will be the only capital city in Australia that doesn’t,” he said.

In its report, GIICA recommended upgrades to potential Games training venues, with a “particular focus” on QSAC, along with Perry Park.

As for the Victoria Park stadium’s construction, GIICA expected the design to be finalised by mid-2027, with completion in 2031 – a year before the Games.

Conry said he had no concerns about sourcing a workforce to construct the Brisbane Stadium and other Olympic and Paralympic venues across the state.

“You can see some softening in the labour markets in other states. It’s not softening in Queensland because of the infrastructure spend for the Brisbane 2032 Games,” he said.

Conry was also confident of delivering the stadium within the $3.79 billion budget.

“We will make sure that the design and construction costs are within that budget,” he said.

“We are designing to a budget now, and we believe the number that has been allocated is the correct number.”

One thing the cost did not include was transport links.

“There’s always going to be costs associated with infrastructure that’s not part of the stadium, not part of the Games in 2032,” Conry said.

“Councils and all the relevant authorities will deal with infrastructure that might be required around the Games, including transport, but of course, that’s a separate cost.”

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie told an Infrastructure Association of Queensland breakfast on Wednesday the LNP government could pay a political cost for breaking its pre-election pledge of no new stadiums.

“You all know what we said prior to the election, but we’ll cop that on the chin,” he said.

“The premier [David Crisafulli] made it clear yesterday, we weren’t going to put our political position or political future ahead of what is in the best interest of Queensland.”

At the same breakfast, Conry said it came down to a choice between the Gabba and Victoria Park.

“We found that Victoria Park is an unparalleled choice for a new stadium,” he said.

“The location achieves extremely important criterion for success: to stay as close as possible to the CBD, close to entertainment options – in this case, apart from the CBD, you’ve got Fortitude Valley and Paddington – and close to a variety of transport options.

“We believe we’ve achieved that, and we believe that the decision to proceed with Victoria Park has been widely accepted.”

Brisbane 2032 president Andrew Liveris said the plan had also received the backing of the international Olympic and Paralympic committees, as he confirmed his disquiet last year, when Steven Miles chose the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre as the main stadium.

“I was very quick last year, when QSAC was announced, to basically say nothing,” he told the IAQ breakfast.

“I think you needed to say something. You needed to all say, ‘Is this what you want for your opening and closing ceremony and your athletics?’ because if it is what you want, then we [the organising committee] will go and try to make it work.

“Clearly, it’s not what you want.”

But not everyone was happy with the plan.

The Save Victoria Park campaign has raised more than $35,000 in the past two weeks to fund a legal challenge against the stadium’s construction, while other opponents have applied for the former golf course to be heritage-listed.

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