Berry was on hand on Saturday morning to unveil a new home for dragon boating. The ACT invested $2.1 million towards the construction of the purpose-built facility, while a further $360,000 was provided by Dragon Boat ACT who now run and maintain the facility.

Raiders chief executive Don Furner, chairman Dennis Richardson and board members visited the Te Kaha stadium site in Christchurch on Friday before Canberra's NRL clash with the New Zealand Warriors.

An all-access tour of the roofed $628 million stadium - which is on track to open by 2026 after more than a decade of planning, consultation and funding - has given Furner an indication of what he believes could be possible in Canberra.

"I spoke with Don Furner earlier this week about stadiums more generally. He did mention he was over in Christchurch. I said 'take lots of photos and ask lots of questions and tell me what you learnt'," Berry said.

"I'm always open to a conversation with them."

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr shot down his own vision for a stadium in the city to instead nominate a new site in Bruce as the preferred location for a new venue, meaning 15 years of discussions and seven feasibility studies have left us right where we began.

Labor is keen to push ahead with Bruce ahead of the ACT election this year, while the Liberals are likely to nominate city as their preferred location and the Greens would slide a stadium down the agenda.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart described the delays as "absolute crap" when an overpowering stench took the shine off Canberra's homecoming last weekend.

But for now Berry has a moment to revel in a new dragon boat facility at Grevillea Park which includes boat storage, training and timekeeping rooms, office space, new amenities and changerooms.

The venue can support training and competition activities for over 600 members as well as interstate visitors participating in local and regional regattas, with the opening coinciding with the ACT dragon boat championships on Saturday.

"I was always thrilled to see it evolving, growing and being built. Watching everybody and their responses to the facility, and seeing it for the first time, it's pretty exciting," Berry said.

"It builds the support, it builds the acknowledgement and recognition of the sport. Dragon boating is a really inclusive sport, it has more women than men. It's just a sport where everybody can come and give it a go. Having a facility raises the professional level. They feel like their sport is recognised."

Now other sports are lining up for their own facility upgrades with Basketball ACT pushing for millions to upgrade the Belconnen Basketball Stadium and ice sports desperate for a new rink in Tuggeranong to finally take shape.

Berry is hopeful for progress soon and admits she has grown frustrated by the delays after Labor first announced plans for a new ice skating rink in the 2016 election.

"It's still sitting with the joint venture partners at the moment, going through the checks and balances of the agreement they will have with each other," Berry said.

"It is taking a long time. I know people are frustrated, I'm frustrated as well, but we'll get there and it'll be amazing."