An inner-city racing track in Brisbane's north and a major community rugby club could be relocated to make way for a proposed multi-sport precinct and indoor Olympics 2032 venue.
Brisbane deputy mayor Krista Adams told ABC Radio Brisbane the council was moving on a "once in a lifetime" opportunity to develop a 29-hectare Breakfast Creek Sports Precinct at Albion, including existing facilities for Queensland Cricket and Brothers Rugby Club.
"We had a look at the whole precinct and it includes some of the state government land on the paceway, our land with Brothers Rugby, Queensland Cricket there as well," she said.
"This concept plan involves all of those and more, puts some basketball there as well, increases the capacity for rugby and cricket, all of those sports and a future fantastic facility for para-Olympians to train."
Sport relocations
The proposed Brisbane Indoor Sports Centre would be built on the current site of Brothers Rugby Club and would host Olympic and Paralympic basketball, include dedicated para-sports facilities, additional basketball courts, netball, volleyball, goalball and badminton facilities.
Brothers Rugby Club, currently at the north of the 29-hectare precinct off Crosby Road, would shift its headquarters down to the raceway's location, making way for the major indoor venue.
The rugby club only recently secured development approval for a $17.6 million redevelopment of its existing clubhouse and fields.
Club president Geoff Rodgers said the club was "very interested" in the proposal as it offered more space for playing fields and upgraded facilities, but was waiting for details and any finalised agreements between the state and council.
Under the proposal, the Albion raceway would also be transformed into baseball and multi-sport fields, ousting the harness and greyhound racing clubs.
A Racing Queensland spokesperson said the organisation had "long stated its desire to maximise the commercial value of Albion Park to reinvest in new and enhanced facilities".
"With Albion Park serving as the home of metropolitan racing for greyhound and harness racing, new venues will be required for both codes. Development approvals via a Ministerial Infrastructure Designation is currently being sought for the establishment of the Greater Brisbane Greyhound Centre south of Ipswich," the spokesperson said.
A new site for metropolitan harness racing was also being finalised.
Queensland Cricket would stay on-site with Allan Border Field's seating expanded under the proposal, while a dog off-leash area would also be added and a 'green spine' connecting Crosby Road to Breakfast Creek running through the centre of the facility.
Flooding and costing
Ms Adams said the council had led the way with planning needed to get underway in time for the 2032 Olympics.
She said the proposal was a concept plan that would likely change before it was finalised.
The proposal would also likely be completed in staged developments.
She said it was "very early stages" but expected if the proposal moved ahead it might cost "a couple of hundred million" and it was likely funding would be needed from all levels of government.
"There's a long way to go to see what the final stage would be like, but we're all working together at the moment, because we want to see best outcome not just for the four weeks in 2032 but the 10 years beyond as well," she said.
The southern end of the site was known to flood, a problem the deputy mayor acknowledged would need to be mitigated.
