Logan City Council has advanced plans to build an Olympic-standard whitewater park in the city with an economic feasibility study and site selections to be completed in the coming weeks.
The proposed whitewater park, which has been earmarked as a ‘game changer’ by Council in its tourism planning, would be a Queensland-first and one of only two in Australia.
American kayaker and slalom canoeist Scott Shipley, a three-time Olympic representative and three-time World Cup winner, scouted possible park locations with Council officers in recent weeks.
Shipley’s business, S2o Design, is a design and engineering company behind the construction of successful whitewater parks around the world.
The proposed park would meet Olympic-standard criteria and would be ready for use should the South-East Queensland bid for the 2032 Games be launched.
Logan City Council Interim Administrator Tamara O’Shea said such a unique facility for the state could act as catalyst for more tourism opportunities in Logan.
“This is an exciting project for Logan, something completely different to any other tourism attraction in the south-east,” Ms O’Shea said.
“I’ve been very impressed with the planning so far and it would be tremendous for this project to go from the drawing board to reality.”
Council began investigating the possibility of a whitewater park in 2016 and last year it was identified as one of four ‘tourism game changers’ in its Logan Destination Management Plan 2018-2022.
The whitewater park was made a priority project because:
- It would be the first of its kind in the state and only the second in Australia
- It leverages off Logan’s open space and available land
- It strengthens Logan’s potential as a major sporting and recreation hub
- It can leverage off Logan’s proximity to major markets such as Brisbane and the Gold Coast
- It can operate almost year-round thanks to a warmer climate compared to Penrith and Auckland where similar facilities are located
Other key projects identified in the Destination Management Plan include a branded hotel or serviced apartment complex, a destination holiday park and a riverine discovery centre.
Logan City Council also enlisted a world champion to help design a new world-class BMX freestyle and skate park facility in Beenleigh.
A $3.1million rebuild of Doug Larsen Park will give Logan what Cycling Australia has rated will be Australia’s premier BMX freestyle facility ahead of the sport’s debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
In a community-driven effort, Logan-raised BMX freestyle 2017 world champion Logan Martin helped design the BMX course and skate-park half-pipes along with representatives from Cycling Australia and the local BMX and skateboarding communities.
