Major construction complete on new Coomera Indoor Sports Centre

Construction on the new $40 million Coomera Indoor Sports Centre, venue for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018), is nearing completion – 20 months ahead of the Games.

Minister for the Commonwealth Games Stirling Hinchliffe today visited workers onsite who are completing the final leg of works to officially open the venue next week.

"Coomera will be the first of the three new sporting venues constructed for the Games and more than 1,000 workers have played a role in the construction of this world-class facility," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"Local contractors have been engaged on the project from the beginning, with 28 Gold Coast businesses involved in the delivery and 98 percent of the construction contracts being awarded to Queensland businesses.

"When it comes to the medal tally on procurement local companies are performing well across all the Commonwealth Games venues.

"Of the $458 million of construction contracts awarded to businesses in Queensland, $209 million have been awarded to Gold Coast firms, and $203 million to South East Queensland businesses, creating thousands of new jobs and opportunities for small businesses.”

Minister Hinchliffe said the contractors who were responsible for putting the finishing touches on the venue represented just some of the specialised skills that were required to complete the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre.

"It took a team 20,000 hours combined to pre-fabricate over 650 tonne of steel required for the Coomera Indoor Stadium superstructure," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"A total of 6,500 square metres of internationally accredited timber sports flooring has been used to comprise eight mixed-use sports courts and a gymnastics arena for the venue.

"Another unique feature of this venue is it’s higher than average ceiling which is double that of other indoor sports venues, measuring approximately 23 metres in height to accommodate additional spectator seating and equipment required for the Commonwealth Games.

"This venue will not only host the Netball Finals and Gymnastics competition for the Games but will provide much-needed community infrastructure for the Gold Coast’s growing population and provide long-lasting benefits to Queensland for many years to come."

 Coomera construction facts:

• It took a team of workers 20,000 hours combined to pre-fabricate the more than 650 tonne of steel required for the Coomera Indoor Stadium superstructure.
• The 650 tonne steel structure consists of 44 columns, 22 trusses and hundreds of support braces and side beams.
• The steel structure comprises approximately 16 kilometres of tubular steel pieces and took approximately 2.5 months to erect on site.
• The steel structure is unique for a building of this type as it has no internal columns and the steel columns and roof trusses are made up of a lightweight tubular design.
• Another unique feature of this venue is its’ higher than average roof which is double that of other indoor sports venues measuring approximately 23 metres in height to accommodate additional spectator seating and equipment required for the Commonwealth Games.
• 88 bored piers up to 6.5 metres in depth have been installed to support the structure 
• The Coomera Indoor Sports Centre and Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre will have a combined measurement of 20,000 square metres of timber flooring making them the two largest sports floors being built in Australia currently.
• The Coomera Indoor Sports Centre includes 6,500 square metres of timber flooring, and if each floor board was laid end-to-end it would be enough to stretch from Coomera to Bribie Island or Brisbane to Toowoomba.

The Coomera Indoor Sports Centre is jointly funded by the Queensland Government and Australian Government. The venue will be owned and operated by the City of Gold Coast.

The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games will run from 4 - 15 April 2018.

For more information on the Games visit www.gc2018.com.

Time-lapse of Coomera venue construction:   https://youtu.be/fx4CGtL6jn8

Vision of Coomera Indoor Sports Centre Heli Lift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGyqG4h2bSc

Media contact: Jessica Hill 0475 950 772