That QSAC's location is a relic of mid century car oriented planning.
That centralised major stadiums, near major commuter rail routes have proven far more successful over the last 30 years.
Superior integration into the established urban fabric.
Vastly superior dispersion routes for foot traffic (think the MCG vs old Waverley Park)
That Australian's don't actually utilise metropolitan public open space efficiently when they remain passive spaces. The QSAC site is a single purpose site filled with spartan infrastructure long payed off, there's little pressure to diversify use, that will change when you have a $1.6 billion 14000 seat athletics stadium (legacy mode) in an inconvenient location for large swathes of Brisbane metropolitan area. Enjoy paying off a rebuilt QSAC when only Queensland Athletics will want to be tenants.
Someone claimed that QSAC was the second most patronised stadium in Brisbane after Suncorp. It's an apples and oranges comparison as QSAC is much more akin to an over sized recreation centre and training facility in its function. For ticketed events, seldom will the match the price of a Suncorp event.
A Stadium at Victoria Park diversifies the parks use from mostly passive to active on event days while taking up only 10% of the space. Appropriate examples at the Adelaide Parklands, Yarra Park, Moore Park, Burswood Parklands, as opposed to the QSAC site, or the extensive grounds of the Brisbane Entertainment Centre as a public park of significance and accessibility and egress.
A Victoria Park stadium will justify superior connection between the north and south sides of the park and a dedicated train station or a major extension to the Ekka station.
The Stadium in the parklands works as a destination in of itself.
Stadiums are not longer designed to be inward looking buildings with a single focus use. They are secular cathedrals, sitting high in the hierarchy of public infrastructure. Their architecture should reflect the pride and aspiration of their cities, tell their story. Suncorp does that, not so much the current Gabba, QSAC not at all. Publically funded stadiums need to serve the community well beyond the utilitarian. Like a convention centre they need to offer diverse uses and facilities for weekday use backed by a great location. Victoria Park offers the fitting location for that without the restraints of the Gabba Lot. Hemmed in by major roads, a cemetery, bushland, the QSAC site can't offer any of that. It isn't even attractive to passive activation to justify the expense of a rebuild. A rail spur line would add hundreds of millions of not more to the price tag.
If it's merely animosity towards the AFL, a worthy stadium can be designed for Victoria Park with a reduced capacity in legacy mode so that Suncorp remains the larger stadium. Suncorp will get a major overhaul regardless. The western stand will be 38 years old by 2032, partial or full rebuilding will be warranted.
