An independent review of venue plans for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics has recommended scrapping the proposed indoor sports centre at Albion Park Raceway due to significant constraints and ballooning costs. In its place, the option to build a stadium in Victoria Park moves on to the Project Validation Report stage as a matter of priority.
Read: Big Plans Ahead For Albion Park Paceway As Brisbane Prepares For 2032 Olympics
The 60-day review assessed the suitability of sports venue projects in the 2032 Master Plan, found that delivering an indoor sports centre at the Albion site faces major hurdles that would push it far beyond its current budget.
“The delivery of an indoor sports centre at Albion Park Raceway has significant site constraints, program delay risks, and precinct and displacement costs that far exceed the current project budget,” the final report stated.
Key issues cited include impacts on Racing Queensland’s operations at the site, expensive land remediation needs, geotechnical constraints, costs for broader precinct works, program delays in aligning the various issues, flood risks from the Brisbane River and Breakfast Creek, and poor access to mass transit.
Although the reference design attempted to manage these problems, it added “considerable extra cost” overshooting early estimates. Examining alternative locations in Albion did not improve the outlook, with other potential sites having “an even greater level of constraint, costs and program delay risks.”
The review recommends maintaining plans for five other new indoor sports centres for the 2032 Games, but shifting the proposed Albion venue elsewhere in Brisbane’s northern suburbs due to the constraints identified.
“Indoor sports centres provide a great legacy outcome for community sport,” the report stated. “The current program to build five centres should be maintained, however the proposed Albion centre should be relocated to another site in the northern suburbs of Brisbane.”
The independent assessment aimed to ensure venue investments for 2032 are “affordable, fit-for-purpose, deliverable, and create a substantial legacy” for local communities.
Read: Queensland Cricket Sounds Alarm Over Gabba’s Revamp, Proposes Renovation of Allan Border Field
As preparations ramp up for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics, scrutiny over costs and logistics will likely continue on the path to the Games.
Published 13-April-2024