rna showgrounds Archives - Fortitude Valley News

Fortitude Valley Builders Join $7.1b Olympic Push

Photo Credit: Delivering 2032 and Beyond

Construction firms based in Fortitude Valley are preparing to compete for contracts in the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, as key venue locations are finalised.

Decade Turns to Deadline

Initial plans for Brisbane’s Olympic infrastructure were drafted with an 11-year window. However, with just seven years remaining, the planning phase has shifted swiftly into delivery mode. Queensland’s building sector now faces a tight schedule to deliver venues and facilities on time.

Brisbane Athlete Village for Brisbane 2032 — Caption: Brisbane Athlete Village planned for Brisbane Olympics 2032.
Photo Credit: Delivering 2032 and Beyond

Valley Firms at the Forefront

Fortitude Valley-based contractors have emerged as frontrunners for major Olympic work. Besix Watpac, with a portfolio including the Queensland Country Bank Stadium, is preparing for bids on the Brisbane Stadium, aquatic facilities, and the athletes’ village. Meanwhile, Hutchinson Builders, the state’s largest contractor, has set its sights on the athletes’ village contract.

Showgrounds Shape the Olympic Village

The RNA Showgrounds site has been selected for the main athletes’ village, aligning with a proposal backed by RNA and developer Lendlease. Lendlease, already developing a large-scale residential tower at the site, maintains a long-standing partnership with RNA, enhancing its position in the delivery strategy.

Caption: National Aquatic Centre and Precinct planned for Brisbane Olympics 2032.
Photo Credit: Delivering 2032 and Beyond

Design Meets Density Challenges

Urban planners and architects have flagged concerns about the impact on public green space. With the showgrounds and surrounding areas already densely developed, the inclusion of new amenity zones is seen as a necessary trade-off to support long-term community benefit.

Shifts in Spending Priorities

From the original $7.1 billion budget, $2.6 billion has been redirected away from a planned inner-city arena. That funding will instead support indoor sports centres in Logan and Moreton Bay, along with a whitewater facility in Redland. The arena, still part of the Games strategy, will be constructed near the Gabba as a public-private partnership project, attracting interest from major entertainment operators.

Caption: Brisbane Showgrounds planned for Brisbane Olympics 2032.
Photo Credit: Delivering 2032 and Beyond

Clock Ticking on Delivery

With less than a decade to go, construction timelines are under scrutiny. Builders are urging immediate action, noting that the proposed delivery programs leave limited buffer time before the Games commence.

Despite these pressures, stakeholders remain confident that the shortened timeline is feasible. Industry observers have noted that Olympic host cities are typically confirmed seven years out — and Brisbane’s early confirmation in 2021 merely offered a head start, not a requirement for early execution.

Outlook for Fortitude Valley’s Role

With major developments centred around the RNA Showgrounds, Fortitude Valley is poised to become a hub of Olympic activity. As tenders are released and projects move into active construction, the Valley’s builders, developers and planners will play a key role in shaping the Games’ physical legacy.

Published 27-Mar-2025

Funny Guy Stav Davidson to Fight for Cancer in RNA Showgrounds Boxing Match

Despite never having had prior fitness training. B105 Breakfast Funny Guy Stav Davidson has just spent the last 10 weeks preparing for a boxing match in Bowen Hills, to raise money for cancer research.

The match is the first-ever for Stav Davidson and he is all set to take on Will “The Frost” Cruise on Saturday, 2 April 2022, at 12:30 p.m. inside the Royal International Convention Centre at the RNA Showgrounds.

The fundraiser is for the benefit of the Small Steps for Hannah Foundation, which was started by the family of Hannah Clarke following her and her daughter’s tragic death. Ms Coleman is close to the Clarke family and she nominated Mr Davidson for this charity boxing match. This was 10 weeks before the actual event and Mr Davidson has been training since then.

The funny guy, who has adopted the nickname “Radioactive” for this boxing match, wanted to help his friend, breakfast co-host Abby Coleman, who asked Mr Davidson to literally fight for this cause.

Mr Davidson and Mr Cruice, who is 26 and works in finance, he’s been training and sparring together in the past weeks. They didn’t know until recently that they were going to be matched up.

Mr Cruice, however, quipped that he’s confident that he will knock out Mr Davidson by the second round.

“I don’t know if I can win or not,” Mr Davidson replied. “But the goal is to go for three rounds.”

The charity boxing match, after all, is about raising money and promoting fitness as well.

The evening will be billed as classic, Las Vegas Fight Night – men will don tuxedos and women will wear formal dresses, and there will be all in between.

In a nod to Stav’s Scottish heritage, the Scotland-born radio host will be walked out by the Queensland Police Pipes & Drums mini-band (2 bagpipers and 2 drummers) – accompanied by four Scottish Dancers!

The fight will be on Sportsbet, where the odds are stacked against the Funny Guy.

Fight for a Cause is hosting the event. Check for tickets on the official site.

RNA Showgrounds Prepares to Become Field Hospital for Pandemic Victims

Photo Credit: brisbaneshowgrounds.com.au

The Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA) has announced that Brisbane’s iconic showgrounds could reprise a century-old role as a field hospital, housing intensive care facilities, if coronavirus victims threaten to overwhelm the state’s permanent hospitals.

Public gatherings worldwide have already been cancelled or postponed, as the coronavirus scare continues. Ekka, Queensland’s largest annual event, originally scheduled for August, seems less and less likely to push through as planned, or if it does, may not progress in its normal format. Instead, the RNA Showgrounds may play an equally visible role in the present public health emergency.

“The RNA is working very closely with the Government to ensure the Showgrounds can be utilised as effectively and as quickly as possible to provide temporary hospital accommodation and other health needs as required,” the association wrote in their website.

RNA added: “Our Royal International Convention Centre can be transformed into a functioning hospital, and the RNA will provide every assistance we can to the Government to ensure this occurs.”

RNA Showgrounds, now Brisbane Showgrounds during the Spanish influenza outbreak (Photo credit: Annastacia Palaszczuk / Twitter)

If Queensland needs the extra bed space, sites like the EKKA, vacant hotels, convention centres and possibly mining camps would contain and treat people who don’t require intensive care. #coronavirus #spanishflu pic.twitter.com/hqT7JLW7QF— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) March 28, 2020

Brisbane Showgrounds, the birthplace of Ekka, offers the largest and most versatile range of indoor and outdoor venues in Queensland. During the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, the RNA showgrounds was used as a treatment centre for patients. At the time, Australian losses reached as high as 15,000 deaths.

“I hope it doesn’t come to this – I really do – but the Coronavirus pandemic is upon us now and our hospitals and medical staff over the coming months could be under enormous strain,” Ms Palaszczuk said in a media statement.

Ms Palaszczuk said preparations to set-up extra facilities and off-site hospitals are simply a necessity. These facilities would contain and treat people who have contracted the Covid-19 virus and who may have minor difficulties but don’t require intensive care.

The Palaszczuk Government has opened 888 additional hospital beds across the State over the four years to June this year and over the next four years, will deliver a further 756 additional beds.

But If high volumes of cases requiring hospitalisation present, the Premier said Queensland may have to open temporary hospital accommodation and options being investigated include vacant hotels, convention centres and mining camps.

As of 31 March 2020, Queensland has 55 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising the state total to 743. The death toll is two: a 68-year-old male from Toowoomba, a 75-year-old woman who was a passenger on the Ruby Princess.

Elsewhere in the world, similar plans to use showgrounds and exhibition centres are in place. In London, the government announced it would turn the ExCeL Centre in London’s Docklands area into a temporary hospital to cope with patients affected by Covid-19.

Meanwhile, a decision on staging the 2020 Ekka will be made within the coming weeks. For updates and important announcements regarding this year’s event, visit ekka.com.au or follow them on Facebook.