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Townsville and the Queensland Government have unveiled the final winning design and plans for a new stadium to be built in the city’s CBD.
The stadium is already being scheduled for completion in time for the 2020 NRL season and should host the North Queensland Cowboys with a capacity of 25,000.
There are already calls for the NRL to schedule the 2020 season opener at the new stadium in an all-Queensland affair between the Cowboys and Brisbane Broncos.
While it has been announced that international company Cox Architecture will head the program, it’s slated to be a multi-company effort.
With delays over the beginning of the project, the Government has been disappointed with the slow reaction and lack of interest from local companies to become involved with the mammoth project.
State Development Minister Anthony Lynham spoke earlier in the month of his intentions to bring more jobs to the region and boost the local economy.
“We need, surprisingly, more expressions of interest from Townsville and North Queensland,” Lynham said.
“We are doing everything we can to see the North wins from this project but we need you also to step up.
“My plea to you today is to go out and spread the message that we are serious about this. We want local contractors.”
The styling of the new stadium has been inspired by the shape of the Pandanus, a tree native to Northern Australia.
The design sees a tapered roof that moves around three-quarters of the stadium, before cutting off into an open grass and hill area overlooking Ross Creek and the iconic Castle Hill.
Early work has early been put in place in conjunction with James Cook University to create a cyclone proof plan for the stadium to withstand the monsoonal style weather Queensland often faces.
The project will be working on a $250 million budget and is expected to create around 750 new jobs throughout the next four years and into the future.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill has been hopeful that more local business would work their way into the project, citing the great potential of such a stadium for the city.
“I would urge small businesses out there strongly to place themselves on the list and to be involved,” she said.
She believes that the stadium “may very well become quite an iconic building, not just for us in north Queensland, but around Australia.”
With unemployment becoming an issue in the city in recent years after the fall of Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel, Townsville MP Scott Stewart believes this is perfect timing for such a project to bring light to a struggling community.
“The stadium is expected to generate 750 jobs and this such an important catalytic piece of infrastructure for our city,” Mr Stewart said.
“Not only will it create those short-term jobs but it will unlock a wave of new confidence and investment in the region at a time when we need it most.”
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