The opposition says building a new stadium at Exhibition Park, instead of the city or Bruce, would make no sense and miss an opportunity to revitalise Civic.
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Chief Minister Andrew Barr released the government's 14 billion infrastructure plan on Thursday, which revealed the ACT government is considering Exhibition Park as the possible location for a new 25,000-seat sports stadium.
Previous discussions of a new stadium had centered around redeveloping the ageing Canberra Stadium in Bruce, or building a new one in central Canberra.
Mr Barr said the Civic location was still the preferred option, but there were significant challenges associated with the site.
He said any stadium at Exhibition Park would have to be built as part of a wider redevelopment of the precinct, which could include a separate venue for events and concerts.
Opposition leader Alistair Coe said considering building a stadium at Exhibition Park made no sense and would not improve on the current issues at Canberra Stadium in Bruce faces.
"I think it's a very curious decision that the government is contemplating with regard to construction a new stadium at EPIC," he said.
"For a long time we've been told that one of the problems with the stadium at Bruce is that it's not in the city and it's not activating an area.
"To replace a stadium in Bruce with a stadium at EPIC would be like for like, it's not actually an improvement.
"We'd be much better off just keeping it where it is.
"The idea of the stadium being in the city centre has far more appeal when it comes to economic activation than a stadium at EPIC."
Mr Coe also criticised the infrastructure plan, saying it was more like a discussion paper than a plan for the future.
"It's just a description of some of the options that are before the territory," he said.
"It doesn't actually say what the genuine priorities are and what decisions are going to be taken in order to get the infrastructure that Canberra really needs."
Mr Barr conceded building a stadium outside of the CBD would mean a chance to revitalise Civic was lost.
"But there are obviously other challenges that's why we're looking at a range of options but we have not yet made a decision. There are challenges associated with that preferred CBD site not least of which is that the stadium doesn't fit on that site. At the moment you would have to move Parkes Way," he said.
Mr Barr said the government's priority list among the less essential social and cultural infrastructure projects had the theatre precinct first, stadium second and convention centre third.
The plan forecasts hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for new schools, hospital upgrades, public housing and future light rail stages - including extensions to Belconnen, Canberra Airport and Tuggeranong.
It calls for a new stage of the light rail network to be rolled out roughly every five years, starting with Civic to Woden and continuing with lines to Belconnen, Canberra Airport and, finally, Tuggeranong.
Mr Barr said the plan prioritised health, education, transport and community infrastructure above "things that are nice to have". That means projects like a long awaited new stadium and and convention centre are not being considered within the next five years.