The cricket stadium that Brisbane Olympics backers pitched as the centrepiece venue for the 2032 Summer Games is set to be demolished and rebuilt.
Queensland state’s Deputy Premier Steven Miles on Friday confirmed the 2.7 billion Australian dollar (US$1.8 billion) redevelopment of the stadium, widely known as the Gabba, would go ahead after the government accepted a project validation report.
Miles said the project would increase the seating capacity of the stadium to 50,000 and connect the Gabba, which has been the state’s cricket headquarters for more than a century, with a new underground rail station.
A local primary school will be relocated to make way for the stadium’s bigger footprint. Cricket teams and the Brisbane Lions, a leading club in the Australian Football League, will also be temporarily relocated during the building phase.
Miles said construction would take four years, starting after the Gabba hosts an Ashes cricket test against England in late 2025, and be completed in 2030.
“That project validation report assessed four possible options for the Gabba and identified that a demolition and rebuild provided the best possible outcome, the best value outcome for the city,” Miles said. “It will be a well- connected stadium but most importantly, it will trigger the urban renewal that we want to see … it will be one of the best parts of the city to live in.”