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Grandstands along Lake Wyaralong, a light-filled inner-city arena and a suburban stadium nobody really wanted.
Stunning visions of abandoned Brisbane 2032 Olympic venue projects can now be revealed, after this masthead obtained concept images of the Games that will never be realised.
One of the Crisafulli government’s first acts after its election victory last year was to commission its new Games Independent Infrastructure Coordination Authority to conduct a 100-day review of Olympic venues.
GIICA replaced Games Venue and Legacy Delivery Authority, which had already progressed venue designs under the previous Labor government’s delivery plan.
But the GIICA review brought that to a halt, leaving unrealised visions on the cutting-room floor.
Instead of the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, there would be Victoria Park. Instead of the Brisbane Arena, there would be the Gabba Arena.
Instead of Wyaralong Dam, rowing would be on Rockhampton’s Fitzroy River, complete with its currents and crocodiles.
Now, thanks to Queensland’s Right to Information legislation, GVLDA’s visions for some of those abandoned projects can be revealed.
Brisbane Arena (Roma Street)
A previously released image of the planned Brisbane Arena at Roma Street.
A previously released image of the planned Brisbane Arena at Roma Street.CREDIT: QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT
Originally, the Brisbane Arena – first envisaged as Brisbane Live – was to be built over the train tracks just on the city side of the Roma Street station.
But former lord mayor Graham Quirk’s Olympic venue review, commissioned by then-newly installed premier Steven Miles last year, recommended it be moved to a corner of the Roma Street Parklands, about 600 metres away to the north-west.
The Crisafulli government’s delivery plan moved the arena again, this time to Woolloongabba.
But not before the design process generated some spectacular imagery of the planned arena.
An image of the planned Brisbane Arena’s concourse area, obtained through RTI legislation.
An image of the planned Brisbane Arena’s concourse area, obtained through RTI legislation.CREDIT: GIICA RTI
The images show sweeping views of the CBD from inside the venue, which would have hosted Olympic swimming in 2032.
The Queensland government accepted GIICA’s recommendation to shift the arena across the river at Woolloongabba, but removed the project from the $7.1 billion Olympic delivery program.
Instead, it opened it up for the private sector to deliver – hopefully before the Games.
Premier David Crisafulli told a recent Property Council lunch he was confident the private sector – possibly people in that very room – would come to the party to build the venue.
Brisbane 2032 president Andrew Liveris has said the Games could go ahead without the arena, but he would “love to see” it ready in time to host events.
In April, GIICA applied to IP Australia to trademark the name “Gabba Arena”.
Wyaralong Dam
Wyaralong Dam in the Scenic Rim was originally slated to host rowing in 2032. Image obtained through RTI legislation.
Wyaralong Dam in the Scenic Rim was originally slated to host rowing in 2032. Image obtained through RTI legislation.CREDIT: GIICA RTI
One of the more contentious decisions the Crisafulli government made in its 2032 delivery plan was to host Olympic rowing on the Fitzroy River, over the objections of the sport’s governing body.
Prior to the GIICA review, rowing was to be held at Wyaralong Dam in the Scenic Rim. Images obtained through the RTI request show grandstand seating on the banks of the man-made lake, overlooking the rowing lanes.
In Games mode, the facility would have seated 14,000 with the addition of temporary seating along the lake banks.
But GIICA found the legacy benefits for the community were unclear, and that access could be a significant issue come Games time, meaning venue capacity would probably need to be capped at 10,000.
The Wyaralong Dam proposal has been scrapped in favour of the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton.
The Wyaralong Dam proposal has been scrapped in favour of the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton.CREDIT: GIICA RTI
Ultimately, GIICA recommended the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic competitions be held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre in Penrith, which hosted Sydney 2000 events.
That advice was ignored in favour of the Fitzroy River, which is known to be inhabited by crocodiles.
While Crisafulli is adamant rowing competition will be held in the central Queensland city, Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi said the decision would ultimately be made by World Rowing.
“No one else than the federation can say ‘field of play ready’,” he said on a recent visit to Brisbane.
Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre
A high-resolution colour render of the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre obtained via RTI. It had previously only been available in black and white.
A high-resolution colour render of the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre obtained via RTI. It had previously only been available in black and white. CREDIT: GIICA RTI
Crisafulli was not the only premier to ignore the advice of a review he commissioned.
Then-premier Steven Miles was widely criticised last year when he rejected the Quirk review’s recommendation to build an Olympic stadium at Victoria Park and chose instead to host the Games’ marquee events at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, formerly QEII Stadium.
QSAC, which hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games, would have been demolished to make way for a permanent, 14,000-seat athletics facility.
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During the Olympics, temporary seating would have increased the capacity to 40,000 – the smallest Olympic stadium since Amsterdam 1928.
All up, the project would have cost $1.6 billion – and that was before public transport improvements, which Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said would cost about $400 million, were factored in.
The QSAC gambit received even more criticism last July, when this masthead revealed preliminary designs via a photocopied black-and-white image obtained via an earlier RTI application.
Now, the high-resolution version can be revealed, along with a less fully formed concept that included a roof over all stands.
A less fully formed QSAC concept, this one with a roof, uncovered in the RTI.
A less fully formed QSAC concept, this one with a roof, uncovered in the RTI.CREDIT: GIICA RTI
The concepts are now moot, with Crisafulli accepting GIICA’s recommendation that a stadium be built at Victoria Park, despite a pre-election promise that no new stadiums would be built for the Games.
Crisafulli told the Property Council lunch on Tuesday that retaining QSAC would have been the “politically convenient” choice for his new government.
“There is no way in God’s name that to go and spend a bucketload of money on temporary stands at that venue would either be a legacy play, nor would it make us look like a grown-up, mature city when the eyes of the world are on us,” he said.
“So I took the decision that I would wear the political heat for it. I owned it and I have been genuinely heartened by people who have absorbed why the decision was taken.”
Suncorp Stadium
New screens were planned in the top corners of Suncorp Stadium. Image obtained through RTI legislation.
New screens were planned in the top corners of Suncorp Stadium. Image obtained through RTI legislation.CREDIT: GIICA RTI
The Miles government had planned to upgrade Suncorp Stadium ahead of Brisbane 2032 as the host venue for the opening and closing ceremonies.
According to renders captured in this masthead’s RTI request, those upgrades would not dramatically change the 52,500-seat venue, which was largely rebuilt more than 20 years ago.
The upper corners would have been filled in with new screens, while a giant screen would have been installed overlooking the Caxton Street plaza outside the stadium.
But while Suncorp Stadium upgrades no longer feature in the government’s 2032 delivery plan, the upgrades could still be on the table.
A facade screen was planned for the Caxton Street entrance.
A facade screen was planned for the Caxton Street entrance.CREDIT: GIICA RTI
“Suncorp Stadium is a world-class stadium, and we’re not going to let it wither on the vine ahead of 2032,” Crisafulli said when he unveiled the Games delivery plan in March.
“It will continue to be a world-class stadium and we will invest in it.”
Indoor Sports Centres
Aerial view of the planned Chandler Indoor Sports Centre.
Aerial view of the planned Chandler Indoor Sports Centre.CREDIT: GIICA RTI
Chandler’s old outdoor velodrome was set to make way for an indoor sports centre as part of a $257 million overhaul of the erstwhile Commonwealth Games precinct before the 2032 Olympics.
But the GIICA review found space constraints on the site would have added “significant cost” to the project.
“While there is a strong legacy argument for developing an indoor sports centre at Chandler Sport Precinct, this is not an operationally viable option for Games time,” the GIICA report found.
A render of the Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre, which was to be built at Kawana for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A render of the Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre, which was to be built at Kawana for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.CREDIT: GIICA RTI
The planned Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre, near the outdoor stadium at Kawana, has been scrapped in favour of the planned Horizon Centre at Maroochydore.
It was a reversal of a 2023 Palaszczuk government decision to go with the Kawana sports precinct, which would have been under construction this year. The proposal had the support of then-Sunshine Coast mayor Mark Jamieson and local sporting groups.
But local LNP politicians, including federal deputy opposition leader Ted O’Brien, had long favoured a more commercial development for Maroochydore’s emerging CBD.
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