Ground broken at Victoria Park, as drilling begins for Olympic stadium

Ground has been broken at Victoria Park, with geotechnical drilling beginning on Wednesday ahead of excavation starting by the middle of next year – at least that’s the aim of the man tasked with building Brisbane’s 2032 Olympic stadium.

Speaking near the first bore on Wednesday morning, Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority chief executive Simon Crooks said excavation of the site could begin once the stadium’s location was chosen.

“I’d like to be in the field doing earthworks in the middle of the year [2026], or even earlier, if we can,” he said.

“Time is important, we can deal with all of this – it’s all about getting decisions made early and making the right assessments.”

Crooks said the geotechnical drilling would take place over at least the next eight weeks across the entire precinct to determine the best location for the 63,000-seat stadium, which would be Brisbane’s new home for AFL and cricket post-2032.

And the earthmoving equipment could be on site well before GIICA knows exactly what it is building.

“You don’t need an architect to have a full design to do the earthworks – you have to have a siting,” he said.

Crooks said the major earthworks could commence before the stadium design was settled – all GIICA needed to go on for that first stage was the venue’s location and its level within the undulating park.

“At that stage, the architect could keep developing [the stadium design],” he said.

“The world doesn’t operate nowadays where you perfect the design and then you say, ‘we’re going to build it’.”

Crooks said the stadium’s lead architect would be in place by the end of the year, following GIICA’s call for expressions of interest.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said he expected the stadium’s design to be made public some time next year. And he had a bold, if somewhat outlandish, prediction.

“Before 2032, you’ll be watching the Lions win the grand final – I’m going to say it’s controversial – right here at the new Brisbane stadium rather than the MCG.”

Brisbane hosted the 2020 AFL grand final due to COVID restrictions in Victoria, with Optus Stadium in Perth hosting the game the following year. Otherwise, the MCG has AFL grand finals locked in until 2057.

Watching the media conference was Sue Bremner and a handful of her Save Victoria Park colleagues, who held placards as Bleijie, Crooks and National Association of Women in Construction Queensland president Emma McCaughey spoke to the cameras.

“Look, seriously, today is pretty much theatrics,” Bremner said.

“Drilling is not construction, and it really goes to show that they really don’t know where this so-called stadium is going to go there. To me, that just shows poor planning.”

Last month, Arup was awarded the master planning contract for the Victoria Park precinct, which includes the Olympic stadium, the new National Aquatic Centre, and the athletes’ village at the Brisbane Showgrounds.

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