POP-UP BASKETBALL STADIUM TO GIVE CAIRNS TAIPANS A HOME WIN
A NEW purpose-built pop-up basketball arena is proposed for the old Bunnings Warehouse site on Spence St to keep the Taipans in Cairns to start the upcoming NBL season.
Sports Minister Mick de Brenni has developed a new plan to build a temporary 2000-seat basketball arena, with the Cairns Convention Centre unavailable until early February.
Taking home games on the road and playing at the Fish
Tank have been suggested as possible options for the Snakes but Mr de Brenni feels they have found the perfect solution.
The massive 6500 sqm Spence St building will have temporary seating, broadcast lighting, broadcast-level stands, video scoreboards, change rooms, airconditioning and catering equipment installed before the NBL season tips off in early December.
The Taipans’ home court at the CCC will also be transferred to the new pop-up site for games.
“We will also support them to be viable through this period, through the early part of the season, to play in Cairns and then return to the convention centre in the newly refurbished facility when it is ready,” Mr de Brenni said.
“This move will give some certainty to the coach, who really impressed upon me, with free agency just around the corner, that they will be able to let the player roster know that they will play their home games in their home city.
“There is a lot of work to do and we are looking to get it under way straight away.
“It is the only venue that could facilitate a basketball game at this level, with fans and broadcast.
“We are not only going to make this work, but we are going to make it spectacular.”
The Spence St building has sat vacant since the hardware giant moved to its current location on Kenny St in 2015.
The State Government will cover all costs involved.
Mr de Brenni only presented the final plans to the Snakes hierarchy late on Friday afternoon but was confident they would fulfil their requirements to start the upcoming campaign at home.
“I am comfortable that this meets the Taipans’ expectations and I am excited this will keep them in Cairns,” he said.
While basketball is a big winner out of this new plan, Mr de Brenni feels it is also likely to generate economic activity in the Cairns CBD and help the city get behind the NBL club after coronavirus.
The 2020-21 NBL competition is due to start in early December and run through to April.