Grounds for change
$300m entertainment precinct proposal hailed
A PROPOSED 25,000-seat stadium in the centre of Darwin would be a “game changer” for industries reliant on attracting visitors to the Top End.
The $300m multipurpose hub is the brainchild of AFLNT.
It would play host to various sporting and cultural events, as well as strengthening the Territory’s case for its own homegrown footy team.
Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce said the new entertainment precinct proposed for the corner of Garramilla Boulevard and McMinn Street would have a beneficial flow-on effect for surrounding businesses.
“A precinct like that would absolutely put passengers on planes and heads on hotels’ pillows, so we’d get the benefit from it, no doubt about it, and then we could more aggressively target signature events,” he said. “Something like that would be a game changer for Darwin.
“We definitely would support the government doing a feasibility study to see what funding would be available federally and from a Territory government perspective, I would think both of them would probably need to come to the table.”
Chief Minister Michael Gunner also welcomed the proposal, praising AFLNT’s “vision and energy”, but stopped short of putting any money on the table.
“I love AFL and we want to be ready for a team when the AFL expands,” he said.
“The AFL has the same priority right now as us – surviving. If and when AFL chooses to expand later this decade or early next, the Territory will be ready.”
The stadium would be a circular version of Townsville’s open-ended Queensland Country Stadium, home to the NRL’s North Queensland Cowboys.
AFLNT hopes to attract private investors to come on board with the project, which would include an onsite hotel and be constructed during the next decade.
Darwin’s Larrakia people have also given a collective thumbs up to the ambitious project.