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Expressions of interest for Brisbane’s new 17,000-seat indoor arena at Woolloongabba will close next week, just days after the architects of the city’s main Olympic stadium were announced.
And a new train station for the stadium and National Aquatic Centre at Victoria Park was unlikely, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said on Monday.
Australian architecture firms Cox Architecture and Hassell, along with Japan-based Azusa Sekkei, were unveiled as the Brisbane Stadium’s designers on Monday, with Bleijie using the occasion to hint at future Games delivery milestones.
An indicative vision of the planned post-2032 Gabba entertainment precinct, including its 17,000-seat indoor arena.Credit: Queensland Government
“We are in procurement up until next week for the Gabba entertainment precinct, which is a 17,000-seat arena,” Bleijie said.
“There’s been great interest, [in a process] led by the Department of State Development, from consortia in the Gabba entertainment precinct.
“That expressions of interest closes next week, so we’ve got another week to go on that.”
The arena, which Brisbane 2032 president Andrew Liveris has said was not essential for Games delivery but he would welcome if built, was controversially omitted from the Crisafulli government’s Games delivery plan released last March.
Rather than build the arena within the joint $7.1 billion state-Commonwealth funding envelope, the government chose instead to have the private sector deliver the arena, which would replace the Brisbane Entertainment Centre at Boondall as the city’s preeminent indoor venue.
Under the plan, the Gabba stadium would be demolished, with land opened up to private development, incentivising the arena development.
While the arena did not yet form part of Brisbane 2032’s delivery plan, Bleijie has previously guaranteed it would be built in time for the Games, with shovels in the ground before the end of this year.
On Monday, Bleijie said the Games roll-out was proceeding as planned after the government’s 100-day review of Olympic infrastructure, which was being undertaken this time last year.
“We’ve got the delivery partner before Christmas, we’ve got the architects today,” he said.
“We’ve got the architects who’ll be chosen very shortly for the National Aquatic Centre as well. So it’s going in our timeline, it’s going exactly and according to our ’32 delivery plan, which is exactly what we promised Queenslanders.”
That plan included the flagship 63,000-seat Brisbane Stadium at Victoria Park, the National Aquatic Centre, and the RNA Showgrounds arena – a 20,000-seat venue that was unlikely to be used as a competition venue in 2032.
Town planning firm Arup has been selected to deliver the master plan for the Victoria Park-RNA precinct.
And Bleijie said it was unlikely that master plan would include a new train station to service the Brisbane Stadium and National Aquatic Centre at Victoria Park.
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There had been discussions between police, the Department of Transport and Main Roads and the Brisbane Organising Committee, Bleijie said, and there was confidence there would be “great connectivity without necessarily having a new station”.
“They’re working through the process at the moment and we’re confident with the connectivity, and the work Arup is doing at the moment, that we will have people being able to connect between the RNA, the athletes’ village, the aquatic centre and the Brisbane Stadium quite comfortably,” he said.
Some obstacles remained, however, with the Olympic security overlay. While the Exhibition station would be well utilised in future events, the entire RNA precinct – including the station – will be under an intense security blanket during the Games.
“[The International Olympic Committee] take a very common-sense approach and if we can find solutions to the obstacles or problems, we do that,” Blejie said.
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