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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
There’s no shortage of interest in Australia for the Games of the XXXV Olympiad, with the newest proposal a privately-financed A$6 billion project called Northshore Vision 2050.
This plan, created by the Brisbane Design Alliance, a multi-firm consortium, places a massive new development on industrial land by the Brisbane River:
“Northshore Vision 2050 proposes a dramatic, world-class 60,000-seat stadium with an adjacent aquatic centre, wave pool, and retail and hospitality zone. Pedestrian promenades extending east and west maximise access to the river, opening up the precinct as a new tourism destination that provides a unique riverfront experience and is accessible by ferry.”
The project would provide the main stadium for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the swimming venue and 2,500 apartments in a complex which can be used as the Olympic Village in 2032.
The program would include entertainment venues, restaurants, shops and park spaces. But it would be developed well beyond 2032:
“Subsequent stages over the following 15 years would integrate an additional 12,000 residential apartments and townhouses; enterprise, innovation and cultural zones; and a specialist high performance sports science and sports medicine zone.”
It’s ambitious, with a projected cost of A$6 billion (about $4.05 billion U.S.) that landed with a thud. TheStadiumBusiness.com reported:
“The project has been met with resistance from the state government, which is planning on upgrading the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (QSAC) Stadium to serve as the main venue during the Games.
“[Queensland] Premier Steven Miles has said it is ‘highly unlikely’ that the A$6bn Brisbane Design Alliance project can be privately funded, while Labor minister Di Farmer has also revealed that tenders have already been issued for the QSAC Stadium upgrade.”
Observed: As the IOC will elect a successor to Thomas Bach (GER) as President next March, the Brisbane experience will be a fascinating test of Bach’s “Olympic Agenda 2020,” which instituted a “build-less” venues policy for future Olympic organizers.
Los Angeles 2028 was committed to a “no-build Games” in its bid, thanks to the wealth of existing facilities in Southern California. But Brisbane has some building to do and Premier Miles not only ended the A$2.7 billion redevelopment project of the famed Brisbane Cricket Ground (the Gabba), but brushed aside the proposal of his own review commission to build a brand new stadium, costing even more at A$3.4 billion!
Australian swimmers have been demanding a new aquatics facility primarily to make them better, and the Queensland plan does envision a new, multi-purpose arena to be used for the Games and as the major entertainment facility into the future.
Bach brought fiscal sanity to the Olympic Games, but will retire next June. Brisbane 2032 will be a test of whether his spend-less approach will become permanent.
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