The Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (QSAC/ˈkjuːzæk/KEW-zak, formerly known as the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Sports Centre) is a multi-purpose sports facility in Nathan, Queensland, located 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) south-east of the Brisbane CBD. Its main stadium – formerly known as QEII Stadium, and later ANZ Stadium under a naming rights agreement with ANZ – accommodates 48,500 spectators, while its smaller State Athletics Facility accommodates 2,100 spectators. Both stadiums feature Rekortan running tracks and natural grass fields. The Queensland Academy of Sport, Queensland State Netball Centre, and a complex of beach volleyball courts are also housed at the facility. QSAC is owned by the Queensland Government, and its main stadium and State Athletics Facility are operated through its agency, Stadiums Queensland.
The facility opened in 1975, providing a synthetic running track for athletics competitions that was unaffected by wet weather, the first in Queensland. It was officially named Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Sports Centre by the Queen in 1977 to mark her Silver Jubilee.[1] It was constructed in close proximity to both the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital and Griffith University campus, which provided athlete accommodation.
Originally, the section of the stadium covered by roofing was intended to be the only permanent seating facility. The remainder of the stadium seating was built as "temporary" seating and was intended to be removed after the Commonwealth Games had finished. Public opinion resulted in the unroofed temporary seating being retained as permanent.[citation needed]
The stadium was named ANZ Stadium from 1993 to 2003 when it was the home of the Brisbane Broncosrugby league football team. The stadium currently has a capacity of 48,500 people,[2][3][4] although the record crowd is 58,912, set during the 1997 Super League Grand Final which saw the Broncos defeat the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 26–8.[5] The capacity can be increased to 60,000 with the use of extra temporary seating in front of the Eastern and Western grandstands. These were removed when the running track was relaid for the 2001 Goodwill Games.
In 1999, ANZ Stadium hosted eventual champions Australia in their Davis Cup Semi-Final win over Russia 4–1. Temporary grass courts were erected up one end of the field and temporary stands on 3 sides. The crowd capacity for this event was 10, 600. 1999 Australian Open Champion and Russian Davis Cup player Yevgeny Kafelnikov described the court "like playing on a potato field" and "that court is just not acceptable for this kind of event."[6]
In 2002, ownership transferred to the Queensland Government Major Sports Facilities Authority[7] and the venue was given its present name.
While the athletics facilities are well utilised, the stands at the stadium have largely stood empty and unused[8] since the Broncos returned to a redeveloped Lang Park in 2003.[9]
Crowd gathering for the Pearl Jam show being played at the QSAC on 25 November 2009
The stadium has hosted a number of events, including:
2002 – An assignment on the third season of The Mole, filmed in early 2002, where the contestants had to draw an animal using the painting machines normally used to mark the playing fields.
The stadium has also permitted students of the neighbouring Griffith University (Nathan campus) to use its expansive carpark, free of charge. This is due to the relatively low availability of parking as well as the cost of parking on the campus (there is no free parking). Students who don't mind the ten-minute walk from the stadium take advantage of the large carpark.
