DETAILS for upgrades to the city's biggest outdoor stadium are set to emerge by Easter in a pivot from a cancelled Commonwealth Games fall-out.
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The Victorian Government has put out an advanced tender notice seeking expressions of interest from contractors keen to work in the Eureka Stadium precinct.
This includes a promised extra 5000 permanent seats to the stadium, commonly known as Mars Stadium, bringing seated capacity to 10,000 fans.
The stadium had been set to play a key role in the 2026 Commonwealth Games in regional Victoria, housing the athletics program, with boxing likely to be nearby in the city's top indoor arena Ballarat Sports and Events Centre, better known as Selkirk Stadium.
Architects from Cox Architecture, which has bases in major Australian cities, had been appointed in March 2023 to partner with Ballarat firm Morton and Co on the project.
Victoria's then-premier Daniel Andrews axed hosting rights on July 18, 2023, citing a projected budget blow-out between $6 billion and $7 billion.
But key legacy projects were still to forge on.
The state government's advance tender for a main works contractor features a "scope or works" to also include accessibility improvements and a highly-anticipated new athletics track and club house.
Under the Games' plans, the athletics track, on the Ballarat Showgrounds site, was to be an international standard warm-up track for athletes before becoming the new athletics hub for community sport.
Ballarat Regional Athletic Centre chairmanager Matt Jenkins told a state government enquiry in February 2024 the associated hoped to be based in this new facility by the 2026/27 athletics track and field season.
While the precinct funding has been touted at $150 million, Mr Jenkins said budget breakdowns for each component were unknown - this meant the athletics community had been left in a "wait and see" scenario.
Mr Jenkins said BRAC had been pushing for facilities to be world-class and better than Llanberris Reserve.
Contractors for the Eureka Stadium precinct upgrades will be selected via a two-phase process, the advanced tender notice shows, and must demonstrate capability to manage projects larger than $50 million.
A redeveloped Northern Oval reopened as Mars Stadium in mid-2017 after a $22 million upgrade to transform it into a facility capable of hosting AFL in-season matches.
The state government pledged a further $6.6 miilion to improve amenities, such as the ticket gate and toilets, in the 2018 election.
City of Ballarat continues to host at least two AFL premiership season matches each year - the first of this year to be on March 24.
Western Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains last week made clear his club's intentions to play on beyond their existing tenancy agreement ending in late 2024.
Mr Bains told The Courier new partnership talks were set to step up.
Mars Stadium has also played host to Super Rugby and A-League matches.
A Western United A-League clash on March 2 could be its last in Ballarat, as flagged by the club, with its new purpose-built stadium at Tarneit set to be open for use from next season.
