Cairns’ Barlow Park seating repurposed for local sporting groups

Five sporting groups in Cairns will benefit from the repurposing of seating from the temporary grandstand at Barlow Park, which is being redeveloped in preparation for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Cairns Speedway will receive 1,000 of the total 2,036 seats available from the temporary grandstand, with Babinda and District Pony Club (64 seats), Cairns Pirates Touch Football Association (120 seats), AFL Cairns (300 seats), and Stratford Dolphins Football Club (400 seats) also benefitting.

The remaining 152 seats will remain at Barlow Park for future use.

The redistribution provides support for non-for-profit groups and boosts spectator comfort, club revenue, and sports tourism in the region.

A $91 million upgrade of Cairns’ Barlow Park is set to support the region to attract more major events and ensure that the city is able to be part of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Federal and Queensland Governments have jointly allocated funding from the $1.87 billion Minor Venues Program for the upgrade.

The upgrade will see the current 1,700-seat West Stand rebuilt and its capacity more than doubled to 3,500 permanent seats, with an additional 1,500 retractable seats for use over the existing athletics track.

During the 2032 Games, the venue will be able to host football preliminaries with the addition of around 15,000 temporary seats bringing total capacity to 20,000.

Image. Barlow Park Seating. Credit: Cairns Regional Council.