A rectangular stadium?

Tim Trehearn has put pen to paper in the latest edition of the Cairns Times.

Think outside the rectangle

What is the most used sport/recreation facility in Cairns? Woree Pool? The hockey fields? Netball courts? Cazalys? None of these even come close to the thousands of people who use the Red, Blue and now Green arrow walking track each day. These regular users do so for free, building strength, aerobic fitness, endurance and addressing mental health issues along the way. The coloured arrows are centrally located and serviced by generous parking facilities and a coffee shop and stunning visitors centre to boot. The annual cost to rate payers for this facility is less than $100,000.

Why we don’t need a rectangular stadium

·       A rectangular sports stadium would cost around $60 million to build and have an annual upkeep bill of near $3 million.

·       Cairns does not have a national sporting team in rugby league, rugby union or football (soccer) to anchor the stadium and isn’t likely to have one in the next ten years.  

·       Barlow Park has not been full for NRL games or super rugby trial games involving the Queensland Reds.

·       Several detailed studies have assessed thoroughly examined the proposal and found it economically unfeasible.

·       There are not enough ratepayer dollars to fund a rectangular stadium that would be used twenty times a year at most.

 

It's a populist idea to build a stadium and initially sounds like a good idea. But many believe it would be a white elephant and end up costing the rate payers heaps. And we hear the Show Society is not happy that Bob Manning has his eyes on the Showgrounds to build his stadium. No consultation of course!