Latest news with #XantheO'Donnell
The Age
13-05-2025
- Sport
- The Age
Heritage protection recommended for Victoria Park, but stadium to go ahead
A Queensland government department has recommended all of Victoria Park be heritage listed, despite the government's plans to build the main stadium for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games on the site. In a document dated April 2025, Environment Department heritage director Xanthe O'Donnell recommended the existing heritage listing, between Gilchrist Avenue and Gregory Terrace, be expanded to the rest of the park. The recommendation came shortly after Premier David Crisafulli announced the inner-city park would be the site of a new 63,000-seat oval stadium, on the advice of the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority. Post-Games, it would revert to Brisbane's home of cricket and the Brisbane Lions AFL team. 'Victoria Park, a place that has been formed by a range of uses over time, is important in demonstrating the establishment and evolution of Queensland's early public recreation reserves,' O'Donnell writes in the recommendation. 'The park retains physical evidence of its varied and evolving uses – some have left visible legacies in built and landscape form, while others have contributed to the archaeological potential of the site.' Save Victoria Park spokeswoman Rosemary O'Hagan said the recommendation was a vindication for the anti-stadium community group. 'It just highlights how important the park is,' she said.
Sydney Morning Herald
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Heritage protection recommended for Victoria Park, but stadium to go ahead
A Queensland government department has recommended all of Victoria Park be heritage listed, despite the government's plans to build the main stadium for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games on the site. In a document dated April 2025, Environment Department heritage director Xanthe O'Donnell recommended the existing heritage listing, between Gilchrist Avenue and Gregory Terrace, be expanded to the rest of the park. The recommendation came shortly after Premier David Crisafulli announced the inner-city park would be the site of a new 63,000-seat oval stadium, on the advice of the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority. Post-Games, it would revert to Brisbane's home of cricket and the Brisbane Lions AFL team. 'Victoria Park, a place that has been formed by a range of uses over time, is important in demonstrating the establishment and evolution of Queensland's early public recreation reserves,' O'Donnell writes in the recommendation. 'The park retains physical evidence of its varied and evolving uses – some have left visible legacies in built and landscape form, while others have contributed to the archaeological potential of the site.' Save Victoria Park spokeswoman Rosemary O'Hagan said the recommendation was a vindication for the anti-stadium community group. 'It just highlights how important the park is,' she said.
