Brisbane Olympics organizers scrap plans for their 2032 centerpiece and reject new stadium idea

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Brisbane Olympics organizers have scrapped plans to demolish and rebuild an iconic cricket ground as the centerpiece of the 2032 Games while also rejecting a review panel’s recommendation for a new stadium in city parklands.

Queensland state’s Premier Steven Miles instead announced Monday he’d prefer to upgrade an existing rugby stadium close to downtown Brisbane to host the opening and closing ceremonies.

Miles called for an independent review of Olympic planning in January as backlash intensified against the tripling of the cost to redevelop the so-called Gabba stadium.

Brisbane’s former mayor Graham Quirk led a 60-day review which handed its findings to the Miles’ state government on Monday, two days after council elections across the state.

The review delivered 30 recommendations, the central feature being construction of a new 55,000-seat stadium at Victoria Park at a cost of 3.4 billion Australian dollars ($2.23 billion) instead of redeveloping the Gabba.

“I know that I said I’d do what the Quirk review recommended, but I cannot support the option they have landed on” regarding a new stadium, Miles told a news conference at Suncorp Stadium, the long-time home of the National Rugby League powerhouse Brisbane Broncos. “I ordered this review because I’d heard from Queenslanders that A$2.7 billion at the Gabba was too much, so I know that for Queenslanders A$3.4 billion at Victoria Park will be too much, so I’m ruling that out.”

He said the option to upgrade Suncorp Stadium, which is walking distance of multiple train stations and the city, would make it ideal to host the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics.

His government also plans to upgrade another existing stadium in the city’s