The 2032 Olympics have for a long time felt far away but it took Gout Gout to show they are just around the corner. The Brisbane teenager’s barely believable 200m national record on Saturday has upped the urgency for organisers to get Games planning right, as Queenslanders dream of an Olympic sprinting medal from a local hero.
The venue options for athletics and the opening and closing ceremonies are well-known and the deadlines obvious. But more than three years after Brisbane won the right to host the 2032 Olympics, uneven ambition and political manoeuvring means organisers have not yet decided on the site.
The Liberal National party state government came to power in October and late last month executed its election pledge to commence a snap review of Olympic venues, to be completed in just 100 days. While the seven-member panel led by the property veteran Stephen Conry may be beavering away behind the scenes, the latest blank canvas in Games planning has excited political, architectural and civic stakeholders.
No public contribution has carried more weight than that of Andrew Liveris – the president of the Brisbane 2023 Organising Committee’s board – who said last week that a stadium in the contentious location of Victoria Park with private financing “makes the most sense”.
With the city’s international reputation on the line, and concerns prominent when it comes to prudent expenditure, legacy infrastructure and resident opposition, the panel’s report – and the ultimate response by the government – will hinge on picking one or two winners from just a handful of key sites around central Brisbane.
The Gabba
Proposals: Rebuild, renovate, ignore or change land use
Concerns: Ageing stadium, small footprint, importance for AFL/cricket
Post-review: Up in the air
The drama around Games venues began in 2021 when the former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that a rebuilt Gabba would be the showpiece of 2032. It was a break to the narrative that Brisbane won hosting rights because of its ability to reuse existing venues.
That option was criticised by some for being a waste of money, and by others for being physically impossible. The Gabba’s tight inner city footprint is an architect’s nightmare and the impact on the adjoining East Brisbane state school lent weight to arguments that other locations should be considered.
Much of the Gabba is more than 30 years old and members of the local sports community, including the Brisbane Lions and Queensland Cricket, have noted that to host the Olympics and not improve the city’s major oval offering – and then have to look at new options in subsequent years – would be a missed opportunity. A temporary solution to host matches during Gabba construction, such as upgrading the Brisbane Showgrounds to a 20,000-seat, AFL-ready stadium, further complicates a rebuild.
New works to better connect the Gabba and the river past the new Cross River Rail station are also under way, and this precinct has long been viewed as central to the 2032 experience. But building a new stadium elsewhere would free this site up for alternative development.
Lang Park
Proposals: Retain or improve
Concerns: Used extensively by sport and music already, no other high-end rectangular venues
Post-review: Minimal works
Known commercially as Suncorp Stadium, this is the biggest specialist rectangular venue in Australia and, even as new competitors including Allianz Stadium in Sydney have emerged, it remains one of the country’s best sporting arenas more than two decades after its redevelopment.
Though its dimensions preclude athletics, the venue is well placed to host rugby sevens and football matches. And, given that its 52,000-person capacity dwarfs the 37,000 offered by today’s Gabba, it is now the most likely arena for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Such a role would probably deliver improvements, as backed by the former premier Steven Miles after a review by the former lord mayor Graham Quirk in March, further extending the life of the new Lang Park. But the football community would prefer that kind of money is diverted into Perry Park, north-east of the central business district, to host some Olympic matches but also serve as a mid-size venue for A-League and state league matches.
Victoria Park
Proposals: Retain as green space, site for major stadium or other Games venues
Concerns: Resident opposition, challenging site, political aversion to new builds
Post-review: One to watch
The most contentious decision to be made about 2032 venues appears to be the role of Victoria Park. Brisbane city council is upgrading one of the largest inner-city green spaces and a strong residents’ lobby as well as the former premier Campbell Newman are vehemently opposed to a stadium on the grassy hills also known as Barrambin.
Despite calls from the likes of Liveris to make the most of the site in 2032 planning, politicians have so far resisted the option. Miles considered then rejected it as part of the Quirk review, believing it too costly and incompatible with the Olympics’ “new norms”, despite Quirk writing: “It provides an opportunity to deliver the best outcome.”
The LNP government has also committed to no new stadium builds. Two weeks ago the deputy premier, Jarrod Bleijie, was asked directly where a stadium at Victoria Park can be considered under the review’s scope. “We have said we don’t support Victoria Park,” he replied. “And the board will know that everyone knows that we’ve said that, and that would not fit as part of the maximising use of existing venues.”
The scope of the 100-day review includes “new, upgraded and temporary venues” as well as private financing, fuelling suspicions that creative options – including a private sector-backed stadium at Victoria Park or even hosting two or three venues here, as suggested by the architectural firm Archipelago – are on the table.
The site already has a role under 2032 plans as the venue for BMX freestyle and equestrian cross-country.
Northshore Hamilton
Proposal: Major stadium and futuristic precinct
Concerns: Outside central Brisbane, walkways on top of stadium
Post-review: Nice renders
Excitement surrounding the 100-day review has sparked a new wave of public submissions and blue sky ideas, including for a stadium at Northshore Hamilton adjacent to the planned athlete village. The suggestion, from a group of companies calling themselves Brisbane Design Alliance, demonstrates a high level of both ambition and walkways.
Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre
Proposal: Expensive upgrade for athletics
Concerns: Remote location, limited legacy value
Post-review: Consigned to history
Sixteen-year-old Gout glided up the back straight of the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre to set a new Australian record for the 200m on Saturday and establish himself as the likely face of the Brisbane Games.
The venue was to host athletics in 2032 under a surprise plan by the former Labor state government but the backlash about spending $1.6bn on a temporary upgrade to a dated, outer suburban venue largely prompted the 100-day review.
Gout may be the fastest person in Australia and the future of athletics – but the Olympic prospects for QSAC are going almost as quickly the other way.
Roma Street Parklands
Proposal: Brisbane Arena
Concerns: Cost overruns, loss of green space
Post-review: Likely backing
The Brisbane Arena at Roma Street – due to host swimming in 2032 – has been one of the most stable pillars of the Games offering, largely thanks to a $2.5bn commitment from the federal government specific to this new 17,000-capacity construction. As of now, it is the most expensive single construction among Games venues and set to be a fitting focus for a Dolphins medal blitz.
Just west of the CBD at a major transport hub, the arena and landscaping will transform the Roma Street Parklands, which are largely ringed by a rail line on one side and residential areas on the other.
An option to build over the rail line was considered, although the Quirk review warned that it may cost more than $4bn, and the site has been shifted into adjacent parkland amid fears of budget overruns at this busy inner city site. The LNP government claimed last month that there has already been a $500m blowout to works on the adjoining Roma Street station.
