Mars Stadium upgrade set for 2024 start
The redevelopment of Mars Stadium is still scheduled to commence this year, despite the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games by the Victorian Government.
The Ballarat venue was slated to host the track & field events for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which were sensationally dumped by then-Premier Daniel Andrews in July last year.
Renders of the stadium during the event appeared to show three new temporary grandstands for the major event, with no detailed information on where the new 5,000 permanent seats would be situated.
As part of the redevelopment, it’s believed the existing main grandstand will be extended to the south, boosting the capacity from 11,000 to 16,000, while an athletics track will be built on the Ballarat Showgrounds site.
Mars Stadium hosted nine national-level sports events in 2023, attracting just shy of 36,000 spectators at an average of almost 4,000 per event. These included two AFL home games for the Western Bulldogs which averaged 9,597.
When the Commonwealth Games were axed, the Victorian Government promised all the proposed new builds and redevelopments would proceed as planned, with the facilities to be completed sooner and made available to locals earlier than initially planned.
Other facilities included a new Aquatic Centre at Armstrong Creek, a 6-court indoor stadium at Waurn Ponds, a new community sporting facility at Miners Rest, upgrades to Bendigo Stadium, BMX trails in Shepparton, upgraded Gippsland Sports and Entertainment Park, Selkirk Stadium and Ted Summerton Reserve.
City of Ballarat mayor Des Hudson told News Corp all local projects were on track to be finished by 2026.
“My expectation is that it will be delivered by 2026 as planned,” he said.
“Our commitment with the state government and their commitment to us is the infrastructure will be built within exactly the same timeline (as the Commonwealth Games).”
He also has his word from new Premier Jacinta Allen.
“From my conversation with the Premier, prior to her being the Premier when she was still Deputy Premier, I met her over in Bendigo and we were talking candidly about the Commonwealth Games,” he said.
“Her commitment to me and she looked me in the eye was we will absolutely deliver those infrastructure projects.”
“We expect from the end of June, Development Victoria will take over management of the site to begin construction of the athletics facility and also the 5000-seat extension,” Hudson said.
Events will not be impacted during the redevelopment, with only a minimal reduction in capacity.
Mars Stadium is scheduled to host two AFL games for the Western Bulldogs in 2024 – in rounds 2 and 24.
