Construction kicks off at North Queensland Stadium

 

The Managing Contractor Watpac has worked hard to reach this significant milestone to ensure the project remains on track to deliver the Stadium on time for the 2020 NRL season.

 

Best of all, today we are seeing a further boost to local jobs with the award of the civil earthworks and roadworks trade package being award to local Townsville company Mendi Constructions.

 

One of my government’s key objectives has been to ensure this project delivers real benefits to local business and creates local jobs.

 

Supporting our objective is Watpac’s plan to ensure at least 80 percent of the hours spent building the stadium will be done by locals, and at least 80 percent of the projects value being spent on local subcontractors and suppliers.

 

With the civil earthworks and roadworks trade package being the biggest of the early works trade packages, it is great to see this work going to a local Townsville owned and operated business.

Federal Assistant Minister for Cities, Angus Taylor, said he was delighted to be in Townsville encouraging more investment through the City Deal:

Momentum is building around the job opportunities at the stadium. Today I’m exploring with Townsville leaders how we can get more local projects off the ground.

 

Fundamentally, the City Deal is a commitment to deliver for Townsville – more investment in local infrastructure, more contracts for local businesses and more jobs for local workers.

Townsville Mayor, Jenny Hill, said the turning of the first sod for the new stadium was a landmark moment for the city and the future of Townsville:

The start of construction of the stadium has lifted confidence and has begun to provide the economic stimulus we need to drive new jobs and investment opportunities for Townsville.

 

The stadium will continue to provide local employment during the construction.

The 25,000 seat best-practice regional stadium will include state-of-the-art corporate facilities, permanent stands, permanent concessions and modern amenities.

Watpac has outlined a plan for more than 80 per cent of hours spent building the stadium to be by locals and at least 80 per cent of the value of the project to be spent on local subcontractors and suppliers.

The North Queensland Stadium is a joint project of the Queensland Government (A$140m), the Australian Government (A$100m), and Townsville City Council is supported by both the National Rugby League (NRL) and the North Queensland Cowboys (A$10m). The North Queensland Stadium forms part of the Townsville City Deal signed in 2016.

Project Team

Townsville architects 9Point9 are part of a Cox Architecture-led team chosen to deliver a Pandanus tree-inspired design for the A$250m North Queensland Stadium.

Cox’s design team incorporates a number of specialist consultancies with Townsville offices, including:

• 9point9 Architects
• Ashburner Francis (mechanical and electrical)
• Arup (structural, civil, traffic and transport, Environmentally Sustainable Design/ESD specialists, acoustics)
• Parker Hydraulics
• RPS (landscaping and surveying)
• Douglas Partners (geotechnical)
• Cyclone Testing Station at James Cook University (specialist wind engineering)

For more information on the North Queensland Stadium visit: www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/nqs

Image, courtesy: Townsville City Council

#SportsVenueBusiness – keeping you in the know!