The Gold Coast spreads its bets

The Gold Coast in Australia is transforming its local sports complex in pursuit of the Commonwealth Games and the FIFA World Cup. If the bids fail, is there a future for the landmark stadium?

Since Abuja withdrew from bidding for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Australia’s Gold Coast faces just one opponent, Hambantota in Sri Lanka. Although the Gold Coast has more resources and is currently the firm favourite to win the bid, nothing is certain when it comes to hosting decisions. The race to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup is even more competitive. The Gold Coast must aim to win but be prepared to lose.

A FIFA World Cup could be played out on oval pitches

A newly developed multi-functional Gold Coast Stadium is integral to both these bids. It will replace Carrara Stadium, on which demolition work began in October 2009. Michael Denton, chief executive of Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Bid, says, “The 144.2 million dollar (USD 132.8m) Gold Coast Stadium is a key pillar of the 2018 Commonwealth Games bid. The venue is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion in mid-2011.”

Design keeps options open
The stadium, designed by Populous, will feature an Australian Football League (AFL) oval that can be transformed into a cricket oval and a FIFA World Cup standard football pitch, as well as an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) accredited athletics field.

During the Commonwealth Games, the stadium would host all track and field events, marathon and walk finishes and possibly the opening and closing ceremonies. Denton explains, “Provision of a running track will be similar to the successful Melbourne 2006 model, where the cricket/AFL stadium was used in Games mode. An athletics track will be installed with a field of play tailored to suit all track and field events.” Melbourne’s Commonwealth Games stadium featured an eight-lane synthetic track installed on the arena surface, together with all jump and field event areas integrated into the cricket ground’s area. The redeveloped Gold Coast Stadium will meet all the requirements as outlined by the Commonwealth Games Federation, including capacity requirements and the ability to switch between playing surfaces, whether for football, athletics or cricket. When completed, the stadium will be the home for the AFL Gold Coast Football Club, as well a venue for cricket – including Twenty-20 cricket matches – athletics and other major community and cultural events, such as concerts.

The venue is also one of 12 proposed in Australia’s bid for the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022, alongside much larger stadiums including Suncorp Stadium in nearby Brisbane, Melbourne Cricket Ground, ANZ Stadium in Sydney and Subiaco Oval in Perth.

A major challenge facing Australia’s World Cup bid is the fact that most of the proposed stadia, including the Gold Coast Stadium, are already scheduled to host AFL matches during the FIFA World Cup season. If they are to host World Cup matches, these stadia will have to be paid compensation by the Australian government for loss of credibility and interrupting the sporting seasons.

Modular, sustainable design
All will not be lost if the Commonwealth Games goes to Hambantota unexpectedly, or if Australia fails to convince FIFA with its promise of a “no worries” World Cup. There is a strong legacy case for the Gold Coast Stadium development, regardless of these one-off mega-events.

Carrara Stadium’s high point was in 1987 when it became the host stadium for AFL team, Brisbane Bears. However, attendances dwindled and the team relocated to Brisbane Cricket Ground in 1993. The stadium was sold to the city council and no replacement host team was found – until now. The redeveloped stadium will be occupied by a newly created AFL team, Gold Coast Football Club.

The capacity will be 25,000 permanent seats – up from the previous capacity of 18,000 – with a covered southern stand. A temporary stand will increase the capacity to 40,000 if necessary. Construction of the grandstand is well underway and the seats have arrived, ready to be bolted in place. The lower seating bowl is being built on the slope of the ground, supported by earth supports. GCFC communication boss Greg Price said stadium seating was being built on a steep angle to give the crowd the feeling of being on top of the action.

Populous has designed an undulating roof for the stadium that meets a number of requirements, aside from being an attractive design feature. Firstly, it provides shade in the summer and a rain break in wetter periods. Secondly, the shape of the roof and open concourses will allow air movement and ventilation of the seating areas and oval, in an attempt to cut down on energy used to power air conditioning systems. Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh has recently announced that the inner edge of the roof will be covered in photovoltaic panelling. This solar panelling would generate approximately 275,000 kWh of electricity per annum, which is more than 20 per cent of the stadium's total electricity needs.

The redeveloped stadium will also feature facilities for 2,000 corporate patrons, AFL team and officials’ changing facilities, AFL media facilities, and team and officials’ suites. In terms of technology, the stadium will feature one of Australia’s largest and most advanced video screen set-ups, measuring 8m in height. This would make events more engaging and encourage families to visit, whether the stadium is being used for a concert, sporting event or community party.

It’s not just sports and community engagement that the redeveloped stadium will provide. The project will create jobs for the Gold Coast region during the construction process and when in legacy mode. An estimated 950 full-time jobs will be created during construction, and up to 700 vacancies when it becomes the Gold Coast AFL team’s home ground.

Even though the Gold Coast Stadium is not yet complete, there’s a lot on the horizon. Its versatile design means that, as well as revisiting its former life as an AFL club’s home ground, it will host community events and could help bring the 2018 Commonwealth Games – and possibly even the first-ever FIFA World Cup – to Australia.