Cairns will join Townsville as a home to a boutique rectangular stadium of an approximate 20,000 capacity — before even Brisbane gets one — with the far north Queensland city securing a 2032 Olympics venue.
Barlow Park will be upgraded at an estimated cost of $91 million ahead of its expected hosting of group-stage matches for the women’s and men’s football tournaments for the Brisbane games, the state government said on Tuesday.
However the upgrading of the ground to a 20,000-seat stadium for the Olympics will be temporary, with about 15,000 seats to be removed after the games.
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That will take Barlow Park’s permanent seated capacity from 1700 to 5000.
Its surrounding hills have previously been used by spectators, with more than 8700 people attending the ground’s last NRL game, played between Souths and St George in 2023.
“This is an exciting milestone for the Cairns community with its premier rectangular stadium to be expanded, allowing more fans to enjoy local and professional sport in a high-quality facility to the benefit of multiple sporting organisations for decades to come,” Brisbane 2032’s legacy boss Emma Thomas said.
“Upgrading Barlow Park presents a great opportunity to increase sporting participation at a grassroots level while also laying the groundwork for more elite sport and entertainment opportunities for the far north Queensland region.
“Importantly, Cairns Athletics Club will be able to remain at the ground with the athletics track retained.”
It follows a number of recent Brisbane 2032 venue announcements, including the Moreton Bay Indoor Sports Centre, where boxing is set to be held.
There are no plans to build a boutique rectangular stadium of 10,000 to 25,000 seats in Brisbane.
That’s despite the city being Olympic host and home to national premier sporting teams including the A-League’s Brisbane Roar and Super Rugby Pacific’s Queensland Reds.
The two teams play home games at the 52,000-seat Suncorp Stadium, where the Roar men’s team averaged 6510 for attendance per game in last season and the Reds averaged 14,527 per game.
Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium, home to the NRL’s North Queensland Cowboys, has a 25,000-strong capacity.
