The Snakepit | |
Location | Cnr Wharf & Sheridan Street, Cairns, Queensland, 4870 |
---|---|
Coordinates | 16°55′39″S145°46′40″E / 16.92750°S 145.77778°E |
Owner | Government of Queensland |
Operator | AEG Ogden |
Capacity | 5,300 |
Record attendance | 5,500 – 3 March 2004, Cairns Taipans vs Perth Wildcats NBL |
Surface | various |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1995 |
Opened | 26 June 1996 |
Renovated | 2005, 2011 |
Expanded | 1999, 2021–2023 |
Architect | Philip Cox & Partners |
Tenants | |
Cairns Taipans (NBL) (1999–present) |
The Cairns Convention Centre is a convention and entertainment centre in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. The venue was selected the World's Best Congress Centre in 2004 and 2014. [1]
The centre has a floor space of 31,000 square metres (330,000 sq ft) on a 2.2-hectare (5.4-acre) site in the Cairns CBD, 10 minutes from Cairns International Airport. The centre has an auditorium with 2,300 seats, an arena with 5,000 seats, a new plenary that can fit 410, banquet space for 400, 23 meeting rooms and state-of-the art audio visual facilities. [2]
The Cairns Convention Centre is owned by the Queensland State Government and has been managed and marketed by AEG Ogden since 1994. Stage one of the building opened on 26 June 1996 and a multi-purpose 5,300-seat hall was added in 1999. [3] The Centre is undergoing another expansion in 2020, adding more meeting space and a third level. It was Australia's first regional convention centre and the country's first environmentally designed public building, and in its opening year it won the inaugural international EIBTM's most environmentally conscious congress centre. [2] [4]
It became home to the Cairns Taipans in 1999, the team's first year in the NBL. [5] The centre undertook a $12 million refurbishment in 2005 and a $6.3 million upgrade in 2011. [6] The current expansion is budgeted to cost $176 million and will be completed in 2022.
Since the team's inaugural season in 1999, the Cairns Convention Centre has been the home venue for the Cairns Taipans, who play in the National Basketball League. During Taipans home games, the centre is referred to as "The Snakepit". [5]
The Convention Centre hosted preliminary rounds of the men's basketball competition at the Commonwealth Games, which was held on Queensland's Gold Coast in April 2018.[ citation needed ]
In 2014, the centre hosted the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting [7] [8] and the Australian Tourism Exchange conference, the first time it was held in a regional destination. [9] [10] Also in 2014, it held the World Buiatrics Congress, the 6th International Symposium on Fish Nutrition and Feeding, the Association of Financial Advisers Conference and Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects. [11]
In 2015, it hosted the Professional Bull Riding Cairns Invitational, adding 300 tonnes of sand to the floor of Hall Two, the 25th Meeting of the International Society for Neurochemistry, World Congress on Larynx Cancer, Australasian Hydrographic Symposium, Prostate Cancer World Congress, Toyota Dealer Meeting and Hilux Launch and James Cook University Graduation Ceremonies. [12] [13]
It has been selected to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games basketball heats. [14]
The Centre received the 2014 and 2004 International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) APEX Award for World's Best Congress Centre. [15] It was inducted into the Queensland Tourism Awards Hall of Fame after winning gold in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Business Event Venues category and received the Chairman's Award for Excellence in the Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) Industry Excellence Awards. [16] [17] In 2011, it achieved Gold Certification in the AIPC Quality Standards Program. [18]
Cairns is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the 2021 census, Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) is a convention centre in Brisbane, Australia. It is located in South Brisbane and occupies most of the block formed by Grey Street, Melbourne Street, Merivale Street, and Glenelg Street. The centre is owned by South Bank Corporation and managed by ASM Global.
The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The Snakepit". The Taipans are the only not-for-profit club left in the league.
South Bank is a cultural, social, educational and recreational precinct in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The precinct is located in the suburb of South Brisbane, on the southern bank of the Brisbane River.
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is a 7.5-kilometre (4.7 mi) scenic tourist cableway running above the Barron Gorge National Park, in the Wet Tropics of Queensland’s World Heritage Area in Australia. It operates from the Smithfield terminal in Cairns to the Kuranda terminal on the Atherton Tableland. It has won more than 25 awards.
The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) is located on the Gold Coast Highway in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. The venue was opened on the 29th of June 2004 at a cost of A$167 million. It is linked by a covered walkway to The Star Gold Coast. Managed by the Star Entertainment Group, the Centre caters for 10 to 6,000 people.
Brad Hill is an Australian former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball League (NBL) and the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).
Nathan Leon Jawai is an Australian professional basketball player for the Darwin Salties of the NBL1 North. Standing at 209 cm, he plays at the power forward and centre positions.
Henrietta Marrie is a Gimuy Walubara Yidinji elder, an Australian Research Council Fellow and Honorary Professor with the University of Queensland.
Barlow Park is a multi-sports facility and stadium in Parramatta Park, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
The 2014 G20 Brisbane summit was the ninth meeting of the G20 heads of government/heads of state. It was held in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, Australia, on 15–16 November 2014. The hosting venue was the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre at South Brisbane. The event was the largest ever peacetime police operation in Australia.
Lees Hotel in Ingham, Queensland, a Queensland icon, is recognised as the official Pub with No Beer made famous by Slim Dusty's song "A Pub with No Beer". The 1957 song, which became Australia's first international hit, was based on the poem A Pub Without Beer written by Ingham sugarcane farmer and poet Dan Sheahan in the Day Dawn Hotel, now known as Lees Hotel, in Ingham in 1943.
Robert John Pyne is an Australian politician who currently serves as a member of Cairns Regional Council, representing Division 5. He was previously a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 2015 until 2017, representing the electorate of Cairns.
Cardwell UFO Festival, an annual event in Cardwell, Queensland, is the only UFO festival in Australia. The event started in 2014 to discuss the unusual sightings and activities in the area, including the Tully Saucer Nests and the Cardwell Lights. The festival also includes entertainment, family fun, markets, food and an alien-themed costume party.
Cairns Basketball Stadium is a basketball facility in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Comprising a centre court, four side courts, a sports science centre, a weights room and multiple locker rooms, the facility currently hosts the Cairns Taipans, Cairns Marlins and Cairns Dolphins, training sessions, the Taipans' NBL pre-season games, and the Marlins' and Dolphins' NBL1 North games. The facility also hosts regular junior and senior competitions run by the Cairns Basketball Association.
The Cairns Marlins are an Australian basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Marlins compete in the men's NBL1 North and play their home games at Early Settler Stadium. The team is affiliated with Cairns Basketball Inc. (CBI), the major administrative basketball organisation in the region. CBI's women's team is the Cairns Dolphins.
The 2020–21 Cairns Taipans season was the 22nd season for the Cairns Taipans in the NBL, and their third and final season under the guidance of Head Coach Mike Kelly.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, nicknamed "Hammer", is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback for the Dolphins in the National Rugby League (NRL).
The Cairns Pop-Up Arena was a sports arena in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. The arena was the temporary host of the Cairns Taipans and the South East Melbourne Phoenix, whilst the Cairns Convention Centre underwent a redevelopment.
Cameron Tragardh is an Australian former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL). He made his debut in the NBL in 2003 and played for the Townsville Crocodiles, Brisbane Bullets, Wollongong Hawks, Melbourne Tigers, and Cairns Taipans across his career. He was named NBL Most Improved Player in 2008 and NBL Best Sixth Man in 2015. He was also named to the All-NBL Team twice.
Media related to Cairns Convention Centre at Wikimedia Commons