Brisbane's Gabba not to be rebuilt!

[weewilly]

With powerful Coates against rebuilding the Gabba it is looking more likely Brisbane will opt for a 60,000 seater k like the Perth Stadium and what cunning operator Coates wants he usually gets. ​

Gabba rebuild on life support after Olympic supremo’s intervention

With the stadium’s rebuild looking increasingly shaky, Brisbane’s lord mayor has demanded marquee Olympic events, such as athletics, remain in the city for the 2032 Games.

www.theage.com.au

​

Gabba rebuild on life support after Olympic supremo’s intervention.​

By Cameron Atfield​

February 8, 2024 — 1.05pm


With the Gabba rebuild looking increasingly shaky, Brisbane’s lord mayor has demanded marquee Olympic events, such as athletics, remain in the city in the 2032 Games.
Former International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates effectively killed off the Gabba rebuild on Wednesday, when he went public with concerns about the reputational damage the Olympic movement had copped due to the project’s huge cost blowouts.

John Coates with then-premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
The Gabba rebuild went from $1 billion when it was unilaterally announced by then-premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in 2021, to $2.7 billion almost a year ago.
“We’ve put it to the review committee [that] we should abandon the Gabba and we should look for another site for the athletics,” Coates told News Corp, after meeting with Graham Quirk, the former Brisbane lord mayor heading a 60-day review into Olympic venues.

Coates, who could not be reached on Thursday morning, suggested to News Corp the opening and closing ceremonies could instead be held at Suncorp Stadium.
The review was also considering moving athletics to Metricon Stadium at Carrara, which hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, a member of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic organising committee board, hosed down both ideas.

The Gabba rebuild appears doomed after Olympics supremo John Coates came out against the $2.7 billion project.CREDIT:QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT
“It’s clear to me that all events and activities currently planned for Brisbane, including the opening and closing ceremonies, should remain here in the host city and I’m still confident this will happen,” Schrinner said.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

They should have stuck with their original plan to build a new stadium and the village and 1 or 2 other stadiums at Albion on the train line and used the Albion Park Paceway, and the Albion Dog Park Crosby Park land on the other side of road from the Paceway for the warm up track.

All 5 northern and north eastern train line pass through the Albion train station, its 3 stops from Central station, and just a few hundred metres from that proposed stadium

To me, having lived in Brisbane for a couple of years, and been a regular visit since 1996, the only way the Gabba made sense was if they buried Vulture St and Stanley St into tunnels for traffic and expanded the ground onto the current roadways, purchased a few expensive low rise buildings and knocked them down, initially for construction machinery needs then development, and got rid of the primary school which is heritage listed and they can't touch, unless somehow it was delisted. There just isn't enough room and I have no idea where they were going to build the warm up track for athletics participants.

It would have been a farken zoo during demolition and the construction time given how busy and vital Vulture St and Stanley St is as part Brisbane's road network for people who live, and businesses on the eastern side of Brisbane.

Albion is a greenfield site and you would not have all the construction issues you have at a heavily populated Gabba surrounding district.

This article was from February 2021, around 5 months before Brisbane presented its final bid to IOC at the Tokyo Olympics during the IOC session held a few days before the games started. The Gabba was chosen for the stadium around May 2021.

When the IOC in 2017 selected both Paris and LA as venues for the next 2 games and let the bid teams sort out who held the games in 2024 and then 2028, LA didn't need 11 years to get ready. Most of its venues already existed and Hollywoo Park / SoFi stadium had already started construction and opened a bit late because of covid, in the second half of 2020.

Brisbane has pissed away a lot of the last 3 years, and unlike Paris and LA when they won their bids, it doesn't have already in place most of the non sport and big sport infrastructure needed, compared to when they had a 7 and 11 year lead time respectively.

Hamilton shores up for 14,000-bed Olympic Games athletes village

The site was identified in the International Olympics Committee documents released when the IOC announced the Queensland bid would have preferred status.

www.brisbanetimes.com.au

Hamilton is firming to host a 14,000-bed athletes village for a Brisbane-based 2032 Olympic Games. The site, six kilometres from the Brisbane CBD, was identified in the International Olympics Committee documents released on Wednesday night when the IOC announced the Brisbane bid would have preferred status.

It is also close to the proposed new Brisbane Olympic Stadium at Albion.

The main stadium, proposed for the Albion Park Raceway site, or the 40,000-seat Gabba, which might be redeveloped by 2032, are suggested as possible venues for the opening and closing ceremonies.
......


The proposed Brisbane Olympic Stadium at Albion with the proposed Olympic venues lit in the background.CREDIT:URBIS

The above picture was the initial render to build the accommodation village closer to the free land next to the train tracks, but the Hamilton shoreline is closer to the bottom left hand side of the above picture. See below picture for the Hamilton accommodation proposal.


Part of Brisbane’s Hamilton Northshore area (centre right) is identified as a strong candidate for a 14,000-bed athletes village.CREDIT:NORTHSHORE

 

[damochandler]

Pretty sure it’s going to be cheaper to build a new stadium. Redeveloping the Gabba was going to be a shitshow. The roads around the Gabba and surroundings were always going to be the biggest problem

 

[Walshawk]

Coates is an idiot if the thinks anyone can bring QSAC back from the dead. What a sh*tshow!

 

[RUNVS]

I do not know anywhere near enough about Queensland geography or politics to really comment but I hope at the very least the GABBA gets an upgrade, even if it is not a full rebuild.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Coates is an idiot if the thinks anyone can bring QSAC back from the dead. What a sh*tshow!

It can be done, but a whole new multi purpose stadium closer to town on multiple train lines like the Albion proposal a few years ago before they lodged the bid, is a lot better solution.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

I do not know anywhere near enough about Queensland geography or politics to really comment but I hope at the very least the GABBA gets an upgrade, even if it is not a full rebuild.

the Gabba literally hangs out across a major road.......would be an utter disaster rebuilding that thing. An upgrade definitely better, but they need to be smart where they spend the money.

The biggest problem QLD has it's that is construction force is HEAVILY unionized. Every big sized project costs 3x more than it should because of ludicrous EBA's.

it's a shit show up there.

 

[RUNVS]

the Gabba literally hangs out across a major road.......would be an utter disaster rebuilding that thing. An upgrade definitely better, but they need to be smart where they spend the money.

The biggest problem QLD has it's that is construction force is HEAVILY unionized. Every big sized project costs 3x more than it should because of ludicrous EBA's.

it's a s**t show up there.

Better union than non-union, but I agree both has positives and negatives.

What is public transport like around the Gabba?

Also has there ever been talk about knocking it down, selling the land and building somewhere with a bit more room, sort of like what the WA government did with Subiaco?

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Better union than non-union, but I agree both has positives and negatives.

What is public transport like around the Gabba?

Also has there ever been talk about knocking it down, selling the land and building somewhere with a bit more room, sort of like what the WA government did with Subiaco?

nah i 100% disagree with that, there's common sense Unions like NSW, and then there is QLD unions. They are nutcases up there.

id definitely think money is better spent upgrading than knocking it down, but the major issues is life safety services, they are out of code, then you can't just upgrade - which is similar to Allianz in Sydney.

 

[RUNVS]

nah i 100% disagree with that, there's common sense Unions like NSW, and then there is QLD unions. They are nutcases up there.

id definitely think money is better spent upgrading than knocking it down, but the major issues is life safety services, they are out of code, then you can't just upgrade - which is similar to Allianz in Sydney.

I am a member of a union and my union through much industrial action got us a 7% pay raise a couple of years ago, without that union we wouldn't have gotten that.

As for the Gabba it sounds like space is a real problem. How upmarket is the area? How much would the land go for?

 

[HirdsTheWord]

I am a member of a union and my union through much industrial action got us a 7% pay raise a couple of years ago, without that union we wouldn't have gotten that.

As for the Gabba it sounds like space is a real problem. How upmarket is the area? How much would the land go for?

Unions aren't an issue in general they do indeed do good things for tradies, but QLD ones are over the top, no big job runs to budget, nor program, especially on the big multi billion jobs. it's hard to relay unless you work up there. it's a running joke in the construction industry that if you get full weeks work on site (Monday - Friday) you are actually accelerating!

this is the gabba - literally landlocked by 4 main roads.



this is the view on stanley street, where it quite literally hangs out across the road lol

 

[RUNVS]

Unions aren't an issue in general they do indeed do good things for tradies, but QLD ones are over the top, no big job runs to budget, nor program, especially on the big multi billion jobs. it's hard to relay unless you work up there. it's a running joke in the construction industry that if you get full weeks work on site (Monday - Friday) you are actually accelerating!

this is the gabba - literally landlocked by 4 main roads.

View attachment 1901703

this is the view on stanley street, where it quite literally hangs out across the road lol

View attachment 1901704

Yes I think knocking it down and building somewhere else would likely be better. Would be able to almost pay for it just on the land sale alone.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Yes I think knocking it down and building somewhere else would likely be better. Would be able to almost pay for it just on the land sale alone.

im pretty sure they are building a light rail station next door (wollongabba) to help with pedestrians getting to the ground. So very unlikely they would move it now after committing to that rail works.

 

[weewilly]

What John Coates wants he usually gets when it comes to the Olympics being held in Australia!

The Gabba will most likely get as cheap as possible upgrade and a new all purpose 60,000 seater stadium same as Perth Stadium built at Albion Park.

 

[Aussie in exile]

What John Coates wants he usually gets when it comes to the Olympics being held in Australia!

The Gabba will most likely get as cheap as possible upgrade and a new all purpose 60,000 seater stadium same as Perth Stadium built at Albion Park.

I do wonder if we are seeing the beginning of the end of the Olympics as we know them, with the costs involved, and possibly going the same way as the commonwealth games?

 

[RUNVS]

I do wonder if we are seeing the beginning of the end of the Olympics as we know them, with the costs involved, and possibly going the same way as the commonwealth games?

Possibly yes. The IOC just demanded too much money from the event and countries have decided it just isn't worth it anymore.

Either the IOC demands less money from the countries involved or the Olympics will slowly die. Another option though is having a single country be the host every year.

 

[damochandler]

I do wonder if we are seeing the beginning of the end of the Olympics as we know them, with the costs involved, and possibly going the same way as the commonwealth games?

Brisbane was the only bidder

 

[The 747]

I do wonder if we are seeing the beginning of the end of the Olympics as we know them, with the costs involved, and possibly going the same way as the commonwealth games?

The beginning of the end? The Olympics have been declining for a long time now. Most people have wised up to what a colossal grift it is.

The GABBA is a good example of this. It needs to be rebuilt/renovated for sure (but not for the Olympics). That is for AFL (and a little but of cricket), they tried to hook up the wagon full of cash and got caught.

 

[Aussie in exile]

The beginning of the end? The Olympics have been declining for a long time now. Most people have wised up to what a colossal grift it is.

The GABBA is a good example of this. It needs to be rebuilt/renovated for sure (but not for the Olympics). That is for AFL (and a little but of cricket), they tried to hook up the wagon full of cash and got caught.

Perhaps the AFL and Cricket might have to make up for the shortfall in cash if they want a rebuild/renovation of The Gabba if they want a modern stadium.

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

im pretty sure they are building a light rail station next door (wollongabba) to help with pedestrians getting to the ground. So very unlikely they would move it now after committing to that rail works.

View attachment 1901719

Not just light rail. The under construction Woolloongabba Station is part of the Cross River Rail project. This will enable trains to be one stop from the CBD (new Albert St Station) to the Gabba (via a tunnel under the Brisbane River). Gabba Station will also connect to the Brisbane Metro (I think this is what you are referring to), which is also under construction and will utilise Bi-articulated buses that travel on specialised busways.

There is projected to be a concourse from the station, over the road, to the Gabba to facilitate the moment of people using both services to and from the ground. A big advantage of the Gabba redevelopment was that it could reap the benefits from these new public transport networks.

Both projects were approved before the Olympic bid was presented, so they weren’t included in the Games’ budget that was presented to the IOC because they were going to be done anyway.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

The beginning of the end? The Olympics have been declining for a long time now. Most people have wised up to what a colossal grift it is.

The GABBA is a good example of this. It needs to be rebuilt/renovated for sure (but not for the Olympics). That is for AFL (and a little but of cricket), they tried to hook up the wagon full of cash and got caught.

Correct. The problem with the Olympics is it demands enormous infrastructure investments for a two week event. The stadiums - generally built for athletics and swimming - are then white elephants or need to be extensively and expensively modified to have any use to sports that actually pull big crowds regularly.

The London Stadium is a great example. It was always going to have to be a football stadium to garner any financial returns, but it’s a bloody substandard football stadium because it had to be built for athletics.

 

[Aussie in exile]

Correct. The problem with the Olympics is it demands enormous infrastructure investments for a two week event. The stadiums - generally built for athletics and swimming - are then white elephants or need to be extensively and expensively modified to have any use to sports that actually pull big crowds regularly.

The London Stadium is a great example. It was always going to have to be a football stadium to garner any financial returns, but it’s a bloody substandard football stadium because it had to be built for athletics.

A perfect example as to why taxpayers money shouldn't be used to build sports stadia.
If GB athletics and the Irons wanted a new stadium they should have used their own money to build it, NOT UK TAXPAYERS MONEY.

 

[Walshawk]

A perfect example as to why taxpayers money shouldn't be used to build sports stadia.
If GB athletics and the Irons wanted a new stadium they should have used their own money to build it, NOT UK TAXPAYERS MONEY.

Disagree. Major sports stadia used by multiple sports should be public assets.

 

[Aussie in exile]

Disagree. Major sports stadia used by multiple sports should be public assets.

Which you are entitled to do.
What you say multiple sports how many do you mean?

 

[Walshawk]

Which you are entitled to do.
What you say multiple sports how many do you mean?

No set number. In an ideal world, you be right, like how the MCG (almost) funds itself. But without Govt funding, we would not have any AFL teams outside Vic/WA/SA, so it is to the benefit of the those stares that we have large ovals for footy and cricket. Attendance encourages participation and that benefits society.