Comm Games works, sports announced

WORKS are on the way to help prepare for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Ballarat following a funding announcement from the State Government.

Both Mars Stadium and the Ballarat train station are set to be upgraded while the old Ballarat Saleyards has been named as the site for the Games village.

Deputy-Premier and Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery, Jacinta Allan, announced the developments on Wednesday and said the event is an opportunity to showcase Ballarat.

“Particularly with athletics being held here in Ballarat, there will be billions of eyeballs around the world who’ll be tuning in to watch the events here”

“[They’ll] see beautiful Ballarat and think ‘that’s a place I want to go and check out sometime soon’.

“These are big, lasting legacy benefits to come from investing and hosting the Commonwealth Games.”

Mars Stadium will receive $150 million in upgrades with cash allocated from the State Government’s $2.6 billion Commonwealth Games fund.

The upgrades will allow for 5000 permanent and 18,000 temporary seats alongside an athletics track on the field.

A warmup facility is set to be constructed at the Ballarat Showgrounds and will remain as a permanent facility after the Games.

The Ballarat Station will receive accessibility upgrades like lifts and an overpass to the tune of $50 million.

The redevelopment of the Ballarat Saleyard is expected to house 1800 athletes and officials during the Games with the aim for later use as housing.

The athletics, boxing and para-athletics and marathon events will take place in Ballarat with mountain biking set to occur at Creswick.

A cultural and sporting festival will run alongside the Games and City of Ballarat mayor Cr Daniel Moloney said the local hosting will be a historic moment for the city.

“There are those moments throughout our history where Ballarat has been on the world stage, as far back as Eureka,” he said.

“This is another one of those moments when Ballarat will again be on the world stage. It’s going to be one of the biggest things that we will see in our lifetime.”