Fresh push for new Canberra Stadium and Convention Centre
The Prime Minister has been briefed on a new proposal backed by industry leaders to build a new 30,000-seat roofed stadium and convention centre in Canberra’s Civic.
A consortium of Canberra businesses, sporting organisations and the Convention Bureau have developed a 36-page proposal addressing the issue of ageing infrastructure in the ACT.
Built on the footprint of the Civic Olympic Pool site, the plan sees the construction of a new 30,000-seat stadium which would be utilised by the Canberra Raiders and ACT Brumbies.
The stadium would feature a roof similar to that of Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium, allowing the sun through to assist in the growth of natural grass, while issues such as the limitations of the footprint have been addressed with an inverted bowl strategy.
A new Convention Centre would be built alongside the new stadium as one option, spanning Parkes Way, negating the need for any relocation of the road.
The proposal also incorporates a hotel and would see the creation of a City East Entertainment Precinct, while a single entity would manage both new venues.
A new convention centre is viewed as being as equally important as a new stadium with Canberra being bypassed in the lucrative multibillion-dollar convention market.
A similar proposal was previously put to bed, with Chief Minister Andrew Barr signalling his preference for a redevelopment of the existing Canberra Stadium.
The estimated cost of the project is between $495m and $736m, with innovative funding options such as public-private partnerships required to make it a reality.
A business syndicate has proposed that underutilised land on the AIS Campus (including GIO Stadium and AIS Arena) be returned to the ACT, enabling the land to be developed to offset some of the costs associated with the new facilities.
The proposal also calls for the $11.4m funding set aside for the reopening of AIS Arena to be redirected to the planned medium-sized indoor stadium, currently undergoing feasibility and business case assessment at the University of Canberra.
Talk of a new venue to replace the existing Canberra Stadium at Bruce has been ongoing for the best part of the last decade, with multiple ideas and locations floated.
