Ballymore Redevelopment

[liquor box]

I still dont think that Ballymore will be used for Hockey, I cant see why the proposals from April wont come true.

Despite wanting to keep Ballymore for Rugby, maybe the best option would be to share a stadium at Perry Park with Soccer and utilise Ballymore for other money making ventures.

How hockey can help football share the Brisbane Olympic spoils

Brisbane football fans’ dreams for a boutique football stadium could finally be realised, with the help of another Olympic sport.

www.brisbanetimes.com.au

But the need for an Olympic-sized hockey venue for 2032 presents the perfect opportunity for Perry Park to be redeveloped into a boutique stadium, with a capacity of between 15,000 and 20,000, just a short Cross River Rail ride from the Gabba.

With hockey’s field dimensions similar to football’s, a new stadium at Perry Park would be a perfect-sized venue for Olympic hockey, but otherwise far too large for the sport. The field would simply need to be returfed after the Games.
Unlike Ballymore, situated in the midst of residential suburbia, it has the transport links, with every CityTrain line stopping right across the road at Bowen Hills station.

 

[Adam84]

The whole premise of the Brisbane Olympic bid has been keeping costs down and reusing existing facilities where possible.

Building a new $150million stadium for hockey doesn’t really fit within that premise, whether it’s reused for soccer or not afterwards. And the new NRL team will probably play at Redcliffe if they want a boutique stadium.

QRU can’t use Ballymore for other money making ventures outside of sports/rugby because it’s outside the terms of agreement for the land. Essentially they don’t have zoning approval for anything outside of sport and recreation. So QRU needs to make Ballymore a money money venture within the ‘sport and recreational’ approval.

Using Ballymore for hockey at the Olympic Games is simply an opportunity to extract more money for upgrades and improvements in the lead up to the games. Hockey could go elsewhere, but it won’t be a $100million boutique stadium upgrade.

 

[Ignoto]

I thought Perrin park was being touted as a new hub for the Roar and also the Womens Rugby World Cup bid in 2029?

I'd imagine with the above two facts in mind, it'd be an easy sell of 'reusing existing facilities where possible' as the 20-30k stadium isn't built for one purpose.

 

[Adam84]

I thought Perrin park was being touted as a new hub for the Roar and also the Womens Rugby World Cup bid in 2029?

I'd imagine with the above two facts in mind, it'd be an easy sell of 'reusing existing facilities where possible' as the 20-30k stadium isn't built for one purpose.

Roar would like that to be the case, but no.

QLD Govt released a stadium taskforce review for Queensland last year and one finding was that no additional stadiums are required in SEQ, that included boutique stadiums. It’s believed there’s capacity within the existing stadiums for the foreseeable future.

 

[Wilson]

I thought Perrin park was being touted as a new hub for the Roar and also the Womens Rugby World Cup bid in 2029?

I don't think so, Perrin Park has been put forward as a site for a new state school.

 

[RugbyM]

That Brisbane Times story was written by Cameron Atfield, who's a notorious soccer booster and won't let the Perry Park proposal go. Complete bullshit like most of the things he writes about rugby (he hates it...).
Soccer has no chance of getting the boutique stadium they want - the Government's Taskforce Report recommended against it and it was written by the bloke who's now in charge of Sport and Tourism....
Having an A League side at Ballymore would be a good fit, with a small enough crowd to not overtax the local public transport system. Be much cheaper than any upgrade of Perry Park (one Eastern Stand at $10m vs at least $30-$40m at PP).
As for the Women's RWC, there's no way Rugby Australia proposes a soccer stadium as a venue when there's a perfectly good rugby one at Ballymore (with minimal investment on the Eastern Stand). Much the same way as Football AU hasn't proposed any rugby stadiums as venues for their world cup.
The Government has nominated Ballymore for Hockey, although I suspect Hockey AU will have have something to say about it (see World Cup comments above!) and it will eventually end up at Comslie with fuck all crowd to watch.

 

[KevinO]

The Government has nominated Ballymore for Hockey, although I suspect Hockey AU will have have something to say about it (see World Cup comments above!) and it will eventually end up at Comslie with fuck all crowd to watch.

First, Australian hockey matches will be sold out if they keep current form. F all crowds is rubbish for hockey in this country.

And you can't really begrudge QLD hockey and Hockey AU wanting to have there own facilities in Brisbane capable of hosting internationals, QLD has produced some of the best hockey players in Australia. Including the best player ever in the world and has one of the worst hockey centers in the country. It does not even have the lighting to host a televised game.

I love both sports, have played both and will most likely be attending the games at either stadium as I have a couple of friends whos kids are currently in the U21 side who are hopefully playing in the games with the current timeline.

 

[RugbyReg]

in fairness Qld Hockey did have theirs own facility. A fantastic one. It’s shite now though. Agree that from a legacy piece it would be better to update that one. But it’s nowhere. Would be a waste of money making it “world class”. Probably deserves some upgrades to at least make it suitable for international teams to train at as we’ll need those.

 

[Adam84]

QLD Hockey’s facilities weren’t been put forward because they’re too far out from the city and in a shit area, which doesn’t fit with the games design of having everything practically relevant as close proximity to the CBD as they can.

And, QLDs premier hockey facilities arguably now resides on the Gold Coast, Hockey Queensland were able to secure a major investment for the upgrade of the GC facility as part of the commonwealth games, which undermines the argument for additional funding for one in Brisbane to host major events.

 

[RugbyReg]

Ballymore approved

 

[Adam84]

great news, time to start construction then!

Image below shows the changes to the masterplan, the 4 buildings along butterfield st removed. Which means the existing Rugby House remains instead.

They also restricted the terms of use for the other buildings, but it should still give the QRU enough flexibility to lease the space to sport and medical related businesses and generate some income.

 

[Adam84]

So from reading through the MID approval:
- Swim School and Rock Climbing Facility both approved.
- On top of their own space used, QRU are able to lease out a further 5,000 sqm for businesses which fall into the categories of: commercial sports, recreational facilities, sports administration and sports medicine/or allied health.
- 5,000 sqm commercial space at going rates in Brisbane is anywhere between $1.5 - $2.5 million a year in income. But given the restrictive nature of what can be based there, they're not likely to build all 5,000 sqm for a number of years.

But at this stage QRU only have funding for the NRTC, the remainder of the projects remain unfunded.

 

[Ignoto]

- On top of their own space used, QRU are able to lease out a further 5,000 sqm for businesses which fall into the categories of: commercial sports, recreational facilities, sports administration and sports medicine/or allied health.

Given how close Ballymore is to QUT, it'd be great if they could do something similar to what the Brumbies do with the AIS with Sports medince/trainers/dieticians etc

Some may snicker, but given how much space they have for the categories you mentioned, it'd be interesting to see if they/the Qld government would be willing to invest in the e-sports side. It could be a pioneering move and if the 'Queensland Reds' have an esports team in various games, it could go a long way into getting infront of a wide range of younger audiences.

 

[Adam84]

 

[Adam84]

Eastern Stand facelift:

‘The Hill’ will be retained with new building behind it

Back of Eastern Stans, redeveloped for sport climbing/bouldering

Hockey during the Olympics

 

[RugbyReg]

those hockey players are massive!

 

[Adam84]

Harlequins Stadium (The Stoop) is a case study of where a temporary hockey pitch overlay has been played in a rugby stadium

Great Britain and New Zealand played an international match there in 2019, and England Hockey are planning on more games in 2022. The International Hockey Federation now use that as an example of a temporary pitch which meet Tier 1 certification for hosting events like the Olympics/World Cup etc.

 

[KevinO]

Harlequins Stadium (The Stoop) is a case study of where a temporary hockey pitch overlay has been played in a rugby stadium

Great Britain and New Zealand played an international match there in 2019, and England Hockey are planning on more games in 2022. The International Hockey Federation now use that as an example of a temporary pitch which meet Tier 1 certification for hosting events like the Olympics/World Cup etc.

View attachment 12874

FIH have only approved use of this style pitch in events that do not require teams to train, and compete daily for more than 3 consecutive days. Also no case study has been completed on the effects of leaving this style pitch down for a month will have on the surface underneath. They currently have a different Tier 1 certification category which allows England to use the Stoop for International weekends.

 

[Adam84]

FIH have only approved use of this style pitch in events that do not require teams to train, and compete daily for more than 3 consecutive days. Also no case study has been completed on the effects of leaving this style pitch down for a month will have on the surface underneath. They currently have a different Tier 1 certification category which allows England to use the Stoop for International weekends.

That specific pitch was approved for 3 days play, FIH used that as a case study and have since developed guidelines and approvals for temporary overlay pitches, including Global standard required for events like the World Cup and the Olympics greater then 3 days.

 

[Adam84]

FIH have only approved use of this style pitch in events that do not require teams to train, and compete daily for more than 3 consecutive days. Also no case study has been completed on the effects of leaving this style pitch down for a month will have on the surface underneath. They currently have a different Tier 1 certification category which allows England to use the Stoop for International weekends.