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Isaac McCarthy
September 27, 2023 - 3:18PM
A Cairns company behind much of the city’s most recognisable architecture has been awarded the tender for a major stage in the Barlow Park upgrade project.
Queensland’s Department of Public Works has awarded a project viability report tender for Barlow Park’s upgrade to CA Architects, based in Cairns North, the design company behind the Cairns Performing Arts Centre and Munro Martin Parklands.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said “project validation” was close to completion, news that surprised Cairns mayor Bob Manning.
The state government has revealed concept plans for a rectangular stadium and upgrades to ensure Barlow Park becomes a world-class facility ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games.
“I was not aware it reached that stage. That was a bit of a surprise,” Mr Manning said. “I don’t know what the scale of the project is at the moment. That’s something council officers need to brief us on.”
On Wednesday the Cairns Post revealed
state government concept plans for Barlow Park that included a new 5000-seat grandstand and 15,000 temporary seats to ready the facility for 2032 Olympic events. In August the Cairns Regional Council also
approved a $8.35m lighting upgrade for the facility.
Mr Manning said upgrades to Barlow Park should not be short-sighted.
“Council does not want to see something short-sighted. We want something that’s got a long-term future and possibly multiple uses,” he said.
“We should always be striving for the most impressive proposal, beyond 2032. The council really is responsible for getting the best outcome on this.”
Ms Palaszczuk said Cairns would be “front and centre” during the Olympics.
“The (Barlow Park) project validation is close to completion. Once we have that we are going to get the details,” she said.
“Cairns is going to become an Olympic city. They’ll be hosting football preliminaries here; it’s the most popular Olympic sport. Five billion people will be watching the Olympics and Cairns is going to be front and centre.”
Carlo Amerio, the director of CA Architects, said he was unable to comment on the project viability report, sometimes referred to as a preliminary business case, due to a confidentiality agreement.
Cairns Regional Council CEO Mica Martin said council was involved in the validation process and councillors would be briefed “in the coming weeks”.
“In March 2023 council unanimously resolved to work collaboratively with the Queensland Government on the planning and delivery of Olympic Legacy upgrades at Barlow Park including joining the Barlow Park Project Control Group,” Ms Martin said.
“An updated presentation to councillors on the status of that planning work, including the project validation report process, is scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.”
The Department of Public Works was contacted for comment.
On Wednesday morning the Premier hosted a 2032 Olympics business opportunities presentation at the completed Cairns Convention Centre.
More Coverage
Exclusive walk-through of Barlow Park concept
Inside Barlow Park’s major $8.35m upgrade
Cairns Chamber CEO Patricia O’Neill said the small business sector in Cairns should compete confidently for tenders leading up to the Olympic Games.
She said a plethora of product delivery and service provision opportunities would be available to various types of enterprises in Cairns and business owners should keep a close watch on tenders being released through the Queensland Government’s QTender portal.