There’s a lot more to be excited about than sport when the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games roll into Brisbane in a few years. Long overdue for a makeover, our city is finally receiving some major upgrades as it expects to welcome thousands of visitors for the quadrennial games. To be honest, as the venues will extend to the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and some other regional areas, we’re mostly hoping the highway upgrades will finally be done by then (no promises).
A complete overhaul of some major Brisbane venues are already in motion and the proposed infrastructure has Brisbane evolving into a city of and for the future. While it’s still a few years away, here’s a look into the venues and facilities that you should be keeping an eye on before they arrive on the 2032 deadline date.
Gabba Rebuild
Despite announcing that the Gabba would be demolished in 2025 to make way for a brand new stadium late last year, the government has cancelled those plans after the recently completed review into venue infrastructure for the games. With costs blowing out to over $3 billion, the rebuild has been ruled out in favour of investigating upgrades to QSAC in Mt Gravatt and Suncorp Stadium, which is already the nominated venue for the opening and closing ceremonies, while the Gabba will be refurbished to host the cricket. The government has also ruled out building a brand new stadium at Victoria Park as the review recommended, which would have encroached on the planned public parkland, but things are still up in the air—you can read the full statement here.
Brisbane Arena
A home for live entertainment in the CBD. No more half an hour drive to see your favourite acts in Boondall. In fact, you won’t need to drive at all. A new 18,000 seat entertainment arena complex serviced by Roma Street's network of underground rail and bus infrastructure has long been planned, but always been up in the air. Well with the recent venue review advising that the build go ahead, only elsewhere in the Roma Street precinct rather than directly over Roma Street Station (which would have caused chaos to public transport for years), the government has now committed to the build in the new location, which will see it heavily connected to the city and public transport options and add to the development of the up and coming precinct.
Northshore Hamilton
For some time the Northshore has been known for its long-standing Eat Street venue and little else. Thanks to the Olympics, you can expect that to change, and in a big way. With the location earmarked for the Athlete’s Village, post-games the housing they build here will be turned into a mix of social, retirement, rental, hotel and owner occupied housing. With this in mind, Northshore will be looking to use its prime, waterfront location to its advantage, where they hope to build a space that cultivates enterprise, innovation and tourism. A place that balances work, life and play is also at the core of their vision as they move into the second decade of the forty-year project. Expect to see new experiences, venues and leisure spaces opening in the underused area in the near future.
Inner Spark
In 2022, Brisbane design studios, university students and industry bodies were asked what they would like Brisbane to look like by the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond. A ‘book of ideas’ was compiled and is now available here for anyone interested. In it are the ideas of over 400 people. Themes of green, resilience, future focused and welcoming were set and off the people went. Using waterfalls on our bridges to make them appear floating, but also to improve the filtration of the river is one of the more inventive ideas and the removal of overhead air traffic in Brisbane suburbs is one of the most liked on the page. It’s a healthy balance of practical and novel and fingers crossed most of them get the green light. Some of the projects would admittedly need to be started sooner rather than later to be ready before the Olympics, but this crowdsourcing effort by the Brisbane City Council is a fun and inclusive effort that has a lot of promise. Submissions are closed, so you won’t be able to pitch a giant chocolate fountain in the CBD, but you can still react to any of the submissions and let them know you like what you see.
See what other developments are happening in Brisbane here.
Image credit: Queensland Government