The ageing Canberra Stadium. Preliminary work has been funded for a new rectangular facility at Bruce. Photo: ACT Government.
The chances of a new 30,000-seat stadium at Bruce but built on a new site are firming for the Territory after the ACT Government announced funding for preliminary work ahead of an imminent announcement from the Commonwealth on the future of the Australian Institute of Sport precinct.
The stadium is one of three “once in 50-year” infrastructure projects to benefit from the ACT Budget Review, with Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC) and a new Convention Centre Precinct also receiving funding.
The government says the $760,000 stadium funding will go towards technical due diligence for a new rectangular facility in Bruce to replace the ageing Canberra Stadium as part of an expanded sports, health and education precinct, linking investments in the AIS precinct, CIT Bruce, University of Canberra and the Northside Hospital.
The ACT will be looking to the Commonwealth to co-fund the project, which is expected to cost more than $500 million.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr told Region just last week that the government would soon know more about the future of the AIS precinct.
“We’re looking forward to some announcements from the Commonwealth in the not-too-distant future in relation to some of their land holdings in the precinct, and we’ll have more to say, obviously, once they’ve made their intentions clear,” Mr Barr said.
Under last year’s Memorandum of Understanding, the Australian Sports Commission and the ACT were to investigate three stadium options:
- A new build on a different site in the precinct that would enable the current stadium to operate while the new stadium is being built
- Demolition of the existing stadium and the construction of a new stadium on the same site
- Staged, significant upgrades to the existing stadium.
Mr Barr said on Wednesday that the preferred option was to build on a different site and the stadium team had investigated 11 possible locations within the Bruce precinct.
He said the emerging preference was for a site closer to the public transport corridor and the University of Canberra and CIT on the corner of Haydon Drive and Battye Street, where there was already an oval.
The Albanese Government launched an independent review of the AIS last year to consider the “optimal location” for the AIS in the context of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and the proposed “revitalisation” of the existing campus.
That review was due to be handed to the government by the end of 2023.
Mr Barr was confident from his dealings with the reviewers that the AIS would remain in Canberra. But even if it didn’t the precinct would still need renewal, including a new stadium.
He also said the ACT would be due compensation if it lost a critical national sporting asset like the AIS.
Last year, he ruled out a stadium in the city centre, specifically on the Civic pool site, saying the cost and difficulty of siting it there was prohibitive.
The Fitzroy Pavilion at EPIC will get a $4.6 million refurbishment to become a multicultural events centre. Photo: EPIC.
At EPIC, $380,000 will support design work for Stage 1 of its redevelopment will include a new large multipurpose exhibition hall to accommodate larger exhibitions, gala sit-down dinners for thousands, and multiple large-scale community-based events.
The first stage will also include new intersections and a new public entrance.
The government says the redevelopment will allow existing events to grow and multiple events to be held concurrently.
The Fitzroy Pavilion will also be refurbished. A total of $4.6 million has been allocated so it can be converted into a promised versatile event space to meet the immediate demand for large-scale community and multicultural events in Canberra.
Design work worth $760,000 will also commence for the long-called-for new Convention Centre Precinct in Canberra’s city centre, including new convention facilities and a 7500-seat indoor Entertainment Pavilion suitable for live music and major indoor sporting events.
It will probably be built on the former Australian Forum site adjacent to City Hill, which has been earmarked for such a development.
Mr Barr said the government’s plan was to deliver projects like a new stadium and a new convention centre as part of broader precincts that will encourage increased economic activity and new jobs by attracting major business conferences and events.
“The refurbishment of Fitzroy Pavilion is part of the government’s longer-term plan to redevelop EPIC, with the Budget Review also allowing us to continue to progress planning for a new large-scale multipurpose facility on the site,” he said
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee said Mr Barr was simply rehashing announcements for an election year and had not delivered on infrastructure.
Ms Lee said the Canberra Liberals were looking at a city location for a new stadium and would have more to say on that soon.
She said the refurbishment of Fitzroy Pavilion was not what Canberra’s multicultural community had wanted.
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