$75 million super-sporting complex is aiming to attract the biggest teams in world sport, including football giants Liverpool and rugby’s British Lions.

A Queensland consortium will on Monday announce plans for the construction of a facility at Brisbane Airport they claim will be the most advanced sports science unit in Australian sport.

Earlier this month AFL’s Brisbane Lions outlined Brisbane Airport as their preferred training base as part of a $25m redevelopment plan first revealed by The Sunday Mail last year.

Now the BAC have backed plans for the Australian High Performance and Recovery Centre, which will be built next to the Lions’ proposed new training headquarters.

Construction on the 70,000-square metre site will begin before Christmas with the multi-million dollar project to be completed in mid-2019.

The Sunday Mail has obtained artists’ impressions of the state-of-the-art facility. It will feature a gymnasium, medical centre, altitude chambers, pools and football fields as part of a sports-science set-up that can be used by visiting international sporting teams.

The mega-complex will also feature a running track to cater for local and visiting athletes preparing for international athletics meets.

The consortium hopes the facility will one day be the training headquarters of Queensland’s fourth NRL team when the NRL considers expansion for the 2020 season.

AHPRC executive chairman Craig Davison said the High Performance Centre will revolutionise Brisbane as a sporting city offering world-class resources to professional outfits.

Water Polo and Volleyball Australia bosses are currently in negotiations to be permanent tenants at the site.

“This is a precinct Brisbane has been crying out for. We want to be the best sporting complex in the world,” Davison said.

“When the British Lions came to Australia (three years ago), they spent millions having to upgrade facilities at Noosa, but international teams will soon be able to stay at this facility.

“Liverpool played in Brisbane last year and if they return in future, we would offer them state-of-the-art equipment and sports science services.

“It would even benefit visiting NRL teams who travel to Brisbane to play the Broncos. For example, a team like the Warriors, coming from New Zealand, could base themselves here and train all week.

“It’s a project that will make Brisbane a first-choice option for local and international sporting teams.”

Davison is also a driving force behind the Brisbane Bombers’ NRL expansion bid but said the facility could be home to any prospective future league team in Queensland.

“This location would be the perfect training base for the next NRL team in Brisbane,” he said.

“This isn’t about the Bombers. If the Brisbane Bombers got in one day, so be it, but it would be the ideal home for any Queensland team that comes into the competition.”

Queensland Olympic Council President and five-time Olympian Natalie Cook said the $75m super centre was a major coup for Brisbane.

“It’s an exciting project,” said Cook, the gold-medal winning beach volleyball legend. “It provides Olympic sports with access to a facility encompassing high-performance training and administration services. It is the future for Australian sport.”

 

Source : couriermail.com.au

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