An international-standard $1.95 million athletic facility is to be built at the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus.
Construction of an eight-lane 400m running track and field event area is due to begin in September, with completion expected by January 1998.
The University is expecting a major Olympic team to use its sporting facilities in the lead-up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Senior members of the USA Olympic Committee and delegates from the Italian Olympic Council visited the St Lucia campus on Friday, April 11.
This followed a visit from representatives of the British and Belgian Olympic Games preparation committees.
The track will be built on Oval No 5, on the corner of Sir Fred Schonell Drive and Sir William McGregor Drive, between the rugby club and tennis courts, and will surround the existing rugby field.
The State Government has provided $1 million, the University has provided $550,000 and UQ SPORT has committed $400,000 for the project.
UQ SPORT director James Voght said the track was the single largest sporting project the University had undertaken in recent years.
'Brisbane is lacking in athletic facilities compared to other cities of its size, and the new track will really enhance athletics in south-east Queensland,' Mr Voght said.
'The only international standard track in Brisbane is at the QEII stadium, which is on the other side of the city.
'While our facility will primarily benefit University athletes, it will be available to other athletes as well as school groups. We anticipate it will attract a lot of people to the campus.'
The track will have an artificial surface, similar to that used for Olympic events. The field event area will accommodate sports such as pole vault, high jump, long jump, discus, shotput and javelin.
'The only field sport we are reluctant to have is hammer throwing, which would cause too much damage to the rugby field,' Mr Voght said.
It was planned that spectator and storage facilities would also be built on the site.
Mr Voght said the athletics facility was part of UQ SPORT's planned multi-million dollar capital works project on the St Lucia campus. This would include an artificially-surfaced hockey field and five international-standard tennis courts.
The University's capital management plan has earmarked $7.6 million over the next couple of years to the Human Movement Studies Department to improve the Connell Building which includes a gymnasium and human performance laboratory.
USA Olympic Committee delegates said they were seriously considering using the campus for about 200 of its 600-member team in the lead-up to the 2000 Olympics.
International games preparation director Greg Harney, associate director Doug Ingram and assistant director Steve Saye inspected the University's sporting facilities as well as Women's College as a possible accommodation venue for athletes.
Mr Harney said the exclusivity of a university campus away from the pressures of the Olympic village appealed to the Committee.
'We want a more relaxed atmosphere for pre-Games training,' he said.
'Our women's soccer team stayed at Athens, Georgia where the soccer events were held. This was about an hour's drive away from the main Olympic events in Atlanta, and in older facilities (than Women's College) - and they won gold.'
Mr Harney said the University of Queensland was the only university the Committee had visited on their national tour of pre-Games training facilities.
He said the campus would be considered for track and field athletes, rowing, canoeing, kayaking, and the soccer, beach volleyball and softball teams. The swimming team would use Chandler Aquatic Centre and cyclists would most likely train in Adelaide.
'We're also looking at these venues as training camps for the Paralympics and other pre-Olympic sporting events,' he said.
Mr Harney said the Committee would decide on pre-Games training venues before September 1998.
Mr Voght said some members of the USA Olympic Committee had visited Brisbane before and expressed interest in using the University's facilities.
'The University would be ideal for the US athletes - just about all the facilities they need are right here on campus and Brisbane is only an hour by air from Sydney.'
He said some American team members could be on campus in the 12-month period leading up to the Sydney Games and that most training would be timed to coincide with University vacations so athletes could live in college accommodation.
For more information, contact Mr Voght (telephone 3371 7777).
