Victoria Park Firms as Olympics Venue Favourite

“We get one chance to get this right.” Those are the words of Harvey Lister, a man who knows more than most about setting the stage for great events—including the Olympics, the world’s greatest sporting event. And although it has taken four years, a change of state government and two reviews—the first 60 days and the second 100 days by two independent panels—let’s hope Brisbane has finally got its act together. Because, frankly, there is very little wiggle room left to get the show on the road before the starter’s gun is fired in the River City for the 2032 Games. On Tuesday, Queensland’s Liberal National Party premier David Crisafulli is due to unveil the Government’s new blueprint and delivery plan for the Olympics and Paralympics after it is ratified by Cabinet. And with the backdrop of a challenging construction landscape for the forseeable future, Queensland's development sector will be all ears. “After over 1000 days of missed opportunities and no clarity, Queenslanders are going to have a way forward,” Crisafulli has said. It is understood the Premier and his top ministers have had a couple of weeks to mull over final recommendations handed to them by the Games Independent Infrastructure and Co-ordination Authority (GIICA) review board, chaired by property industry veteran Stephen Conry. ▲ Rendering of the proposed $2.7-billion redevelopment of The Gabba stadium for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, which has likely been shelved. Meanwhile, as a result of the drawn-out saga, the event’s preparations have been left in limbo—prompting the International Olympic Committee to delay by one year confirmation of the Games sports program to enable organisers to shore up the venue and infrastructure plans. Lister is the Asia-Pacific chairman of ASM Global, a company with a worldwide portfolio of more than 300 venues—including Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium—that has been involved in the planning of venues for previous and future Games. “We’ve seen all the mistakes there are to be made and had great learning experiences,” he says. Not surprisingly then, the Brisbane-based maestro of major event venues was invited to front the GIICA review board to impart some of that knowledge and experience. He quickly notes: “That was a confidential process”. Always choosing his words carefully—and trying not to shoot himself in the foot—Lister says he is “eternally optimistic” that the latest 100-day review of the Olympics venue and infrastructure program has given the Queensland Government “the answers that they need”. “We look forward to hearing the outcome on Tuesday,” he says. “Because this is a major pivot point in the evolution of Brisbane’s hosting of an Olympic Games.” ▲ Brisbane power broker Harvey Lister says Brisbane has one chance to get this right. The key word coming off his lips being “pivot”. That, by all indications from various leaked reports of the review board’s findings, is what the Government is being advised to do. Among the reported recommendations is that a new 60,000-seat stadium be built at Victoria Park on the Brisbane CBD’s northern fringe (pictured in the main image supplied by Archipelago Architects) —as was recommended by the first review but rejected by the state’s then Labor government in favour of a controversial plan to upgrade the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre at Nathan. Again, it seems the constrained site of Brisbane’s much-loved and historic sporting cauldron, The Gabba, has been deemed an unrealistic option for a preferred main stadium, largely also because there is no longer enough time to rebuild it. There is also talk of a state-of-the-art swimming and watersports arena as part of a National Acquatics Centre potentially being be built across the road from a new Victoria Park stadium. As well, it is understood the review board has recommended the site for the planned $2.5-billion Brisbane Arena—the brainchild of Lister—be relocated from Roma Street Parklands to a state-owned site across the Brisbane River at Woolloongabba. However, there is also speculation the Government is reconsidering the proposed indoor arena, that has been slated to host the swimming events in a drop-in pool, and will redistribute the funds to other Games projects. Lister, a well-connected businessman and heavy-hitter, isn’t letting slip anything he may have heard on the down-low. “But they’re the two biggest decisions—the final location of a major new oval stadium, if one is to be built at all, and similarly for a major new CBD arena, if one is to be built at all,” he says. “Our concept [for Brisbane Arena] wasn’t just for Roma Street, it was for Brisbane, for the capital city. The Government were the ones who selected the Roma Street option and they’ve been reviewing it. And whatever the decision—whether there is an arena or not, or whether it’s at Roma Street or somewhere else—we’re all big and grown up enough to deal with it. “The important thing is to make sure the venues, be they existing venues or new venues, that Queensland makes available are not only what the 2032 organising committee needs to meet the requirements of the various sports federations but also what it needs to be able to deliver the Olympic Games on a break-even basis. ▲ The site of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics athletes village may also be included in the venue upheaval, with industry leaning towards an RNA Showgrounds move. “And that those venues will then become a legacy of the Games that we hope will meet the needs of the state and its various event users for decades to come.” There is also some conjecture as to whether the Olympic and Paralympic athletes village will move from its proposed site at Northshore Hamilton to be within spitting distance of the main stadium. Industry whispers have centred on the Brisbane Showgrounds at Herston but that remains to be seen. Lister concedes the planning and decision-making process for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics so far has been “massively polarising” and protracted. “I’m not surprised there has been some consternation,” he says. “I think part of the reason for that is that there was seen to be so much time available for Queensland to prepare that it seemed to lose a bit of the urgency. “There’s no doubt that we’re now at a critical point, and there is no longer time for rethinking everything. But what’s happened has happened … and it’s now time for decisions and action.” Adding some intrigue in the lead-up to the Government’s upcoming announcement, Lister adds: “There could be a left-field solution”. He is, of course, referring to the Queensland Premier David Crisafulli’s election vow that there would be no new stadium built and the event’s $7.1-billion funding cap would not be lifted. “There might be a decision not to do a replacement stadium,” Lister says. Again, another key word—“replacement”—perhaps, in the political sense, not technically deemed to be a “new” stadium. “I don't want to call it a new stadium … because the Premier has said there will be no new stadiums,” Lister says. “If it happens, it'll be a replacement stadium for the Gabba, which still has some life in it up until the Olympics at least—or it might not happen at all. “The two things are very firmly on the table and it’s the same for the arena. “All we can do now is await what Cabinet decides and then everybody can let out a sigh of relief and, hopefully, we can move forward.”

Victoria Park Firms as Olympics Venue Favourite

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