Add Category
The ACT government has killed off hopes for a new stadium in the city centre, saying it wants to keep using the sports precinct in Bruce.
Key points:
- The ACT government is fighting to keep the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra
- A new Bruce stadium is in its plan for the AIS campus
- The government is also prioritising a 7,500-seat concert hall in the city
The ACT's long-term sports and arts plan, released today, includes a schedule to build, replace or improve dozens of venues over the next 15 years.
It details plans for a large concert pavilion and convention centre in Civic, an expansion of the Canberra Theatre Centre, a new city pool, and redevelopments of Exhibition Park and many other sites across the ACT.
However, the government is yet to make a final decision on the future of the existing Canberra Stadium, which is now 46 years old.
Yesterday, it signed an agreement with the stadium's owner — the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) — to explore how to best use the AIS campus in Bruce.
The parties now have 18 months to find a way to provide a new, 30,000-seat stadium, with Bruce the preferred site.
The government and the ASC will study whether to:
- build a new stadium at the AIS campus, and keep the current one operating in the meantime;
- demolish and rebuild the stadium on the existing site; or
- fund "staged, significant" upgrades to prolong the stadium's life.
If these options are unfeasible, the government will then consider building a new stadium at Exhibition Park in Canberra.
Barr says 'we tried', but city proposal unworkable
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr was among the first prominent voices to call for a new stadium in Civic.
As recently as five years ago, he said it remained a government priority, though he later cooled on the idea.
The existing stadium, whose lease expires next year, is widely maligned for exposing spectators to harsh weather.
Calls to replace it with a roofed stadium in the city became an unexpected topic of debate during last year's federal election.
Mr Barr told the ABC the government had "thoroughly explored" the city proposal, particularly the Civic pool site.
"We tried to make it work," he said.
But the site's constraints meant "we have to look at other options".
The ACT infrastructure plan notes the pool site's limited space would compromise stadium design.
The location would also pose "significant challenges for moving crowds in and out", especially on Friday nights, create noise pollution, block access for locals and cast long shadows over public spaces.
"Collectively, these factors would contribute to a poor game-day experience and atmosphere for patrons, teams, nearby residents and the broader ACT community," the plan says.
Mr Barr said he was now focused on working with the ASC to ensure Canberra retained a stadium and did not lose the AIS.
"We don't want to lose this essential … elite sporting infrastructure to another city," he said.
"We want to keep the AIS in Canberra."
Over the next 18 months, he hoped to reach agreement with the Commonwealth for the ACT government to take over the AIS precinct.
'Iconic live music venue' with 7,500 seats
The largest single project in the government's sports and arts plan is the construction of a combined entertainment and convention centre precinct in the city.
The location is not finalised, though Mr Barr said it was highly likely to be built at the site of Civic's last-remaining open-air car park, near the corner of London Circuit and Constitution Avenue.
"There aren't many other sites that will have the size and space necessary," he said.
The first stage of this development would be an indoor convert pavilion that could hold at least 7,500 people.
It would eventually be expanded to include Canberra's new convention centre, to replace the existing facility on Constitution Avenue.
"Canberra has been missing out on many major touring artists because we lack an iconic live music venue such as the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney and Palais Theatre in Melbourne," Mr Barr said.
The combined cost of the new precinct, along with a large expansion of the Canberra Theatre Centre, may exceed $1.25 billion.
However, work on most of the proposals in the infrastructure plan is not expected to begin for years.