Brisbane Is Getting a Brand-New Stadium at Victoria Park — and Roma Street's Proposed Live Arena Is Set to Move to Woolloongabba
The plans for the River City for the 2032 Olympics and beyond also include an upgraded arena at the RNA Showgrounds, and eventually tearing down the Gabba.
Since 2021, Brisbanites have known that the Queensland capital will host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Where exactly around the city? How will the lead-up to the sporting event impact residents? What will Brisbane gain afterwards? That's all remained an ongoing debate. First, the Gabba was being completely demolished and rebuilt, for instance. Then it wasn't. A temporary stadium at the RNA Showgrounds was suggested as a plan for the AFL and cricket if the Gabba was torn down. Then it wasn't needed. Adding a brand-new permanent stadium to Victoria Park at Herston was floated, then rejected, too, before upgrading Suncorp Stadium and the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre was confirmed as the way forward in 2024.
A year after the decision to use QSAC, following a change of government in the Sunshine State over that time, the situation has evolved again. Premier David Crisafulli has announced the new 2032 Delivery Plan, following a 100-day review of the proposed setup to stage the Olympics and Paralympics in Brisbane. The outcome: saying hello to a stadium at Victoria Park again, bidding farewell to Roma Street's proposed live arena and also getting ready to for eventual goodbyes to Woolloongabba's Brisbane Cricket Ground.
Victoria Park
Set to be carried out by the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority, the new $7.1-billion venue capital works program will see Victoria Park score that new stadium, despite community concerns about losing inner-city green space. What this means for the long-held plans to transform the patch of Herston into a 64-hectare parkland with a tree house lookout, water play gully, high-ropes course, mountain bike track, reinstated water holes and wetlands, and more is yet to be revealed.
The new stadium will seat 63,000 people, and will become the future home of the Brisbane Lions, Brisbane Heat and Queensland Bulls, alongside being able to host major concerts.
Brisbane City Council via Flickr
Also part of the 2032 Delivery Plan is a new National Aquatic Centre at what's now the Centenary Pool in Spring Hill, with capacity for 25,000 spectators during the games and 8000 afterwards. Nearby, the RNA Showgrounds will get an upgraded arena that can welcome in 20,000 patrons, as well as hosting the athlete village for 15,000 competitors — and the latter will become permanent housing following the games.
Still in Brisbane, the Queensland Tennis Centre will be upgraded as well, gaining a new permanent 3000-spectator show court, plus 12 new match courts — and the Chandler Sporting Precinct will become a site dedicated to para-sports.
Elsewhere around the state, the Premier also advised that the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast will host athlete villages, Toowoomba Showgrounds will become an Equestrian Centre of Excellence, and Rockhampton's Fitzroy River will be the location for rowing and canoe events. Parklands and beaches around Queensland will become live sites and temporary venues, too, adding to the games' footprint.
JRA_WestyQld2 via Wikimedia Commons
With the National Aquatic Centre, the future of Brisbane Arena — a new live music venue at Roma Street Parklands that was set to host a drop-in pool for the Olympics — has changed. Clearly swimming there is no longer needed. In the press conference announcing the new way forward for the games, the Premier revealed that Brisbane Arena isn't an aspect of the 2032 Delivery Plan, but the government will instead work with the private sector to make the venue a reality in Woolloongabba, opposite where the Gabba currently sits.
The Gabba will also still get torn down, albeit not for the Olympics.
So, expect the River City to start looking a whole lot different, not just at the central Olympics precinct across Spring Hill, Bowen Hills and Victoria Park, but beyond. The plans also span transport network improvements, as will be greatly needed, including new rail lines and stations, new bus corridors, faster rail between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and M1 upgrades.
The Gabba, Your Next Kid via Wikipedia Commons
For more information about the plans for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, head to the Queensland Government website.
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