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THE first competition venue for the 2018 Commonwealth Games has been unveiled, ahead of schedule and within budget.
The redeveloped $41 million Gold Coast Aquatic Centre features a 50m competition pool, 50m lane training pool, diving pool and dry dive facility.
Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games Jann Stuckey says the new venue is set to attract many events in the future.
“The redevelopment of the aquatic centre has been delivered earlier than originally planned to enable the Pan Pacific Championships to be held here in August,” Stuckey says.
“We will deliver three new world-class competition venues and undertake major upgrades to a further eight venues in time for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.”
Stuckey says this is just the “beginning of a wave of investment” for the city, with the Games expected to create 30,000 full-time jobs and invest $2 billion into the local economy.
More than 90 per cent of firms involved with the centre development hail from south-east Queensland, with 60 per cent from the Gold Coast specifically.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate says it will be reopened to the community in September, following the Pan Pacific Championships.
“The aquatic centre will not only be a world class international venue, it’s also a wonderful asset for our local community and we look forward to giving it back to the people of the Gold Coast after the Pan Pacs,” Tate says.
Watpac was the managing contractor, with Cox Rayner Architects as the designer behind the project.
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