The Cairns Pop-Up Arena was a sports arena in

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. The arena was the temporary host of the

Cairns Taipans 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 S ...

and the

South East Melbourne Phoenix The South East Melbourne Phoenix are an Australian professional basketball team based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Wantirna South, Victoria. The Phoenix entered the National Basketball League (NBL) in the 2019–20 season. The t ...

, whilst the

Cairns Convention Centre 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. Description The centre has a floor space of on a site in the C ...

underwent a redevelopment.

Description

The arena had a floor space of on a site just outside Cairns City. As a former

Bunnings Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian hardware and garden centre chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Per ...

building it only contained one hall, which was fitted with grandstand seating, air conditioning, broadcast lighting, video scoreboards, a public address system, change room facilities, public amenities and catering facilities.

History

Following months of debate about the future of the

in Cairns due to the delay of upgrades to the Cairns Convention Centre and no other suitable venue ready, on 10 July 2020

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

Sports Minister

Mick de Brenni Michael Christopher de Brenni, is an Australian politician currently serving as the Manager of Opposition Business in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. Born 8 February 1978, he attended Redeemer Lutheran College before going on to Grif ...

unveiled plans to upgrade the former Bunnings building on the corner of Spence and Fearnley Streets which had been vacant since 2015.

Events

On 10 July 2020, when de Brenni unveiled the plans to upgrade the former Bunnings building he announced that the Cairns Taipans were going to use the stadium until the

upgrades are completed. The stadium is used by the club for training and pre-season games, as an alternative to Cairns Basketball Stadium. On 15 September 2020,

Suncorp Super Netball The Super Netball League (known predominantly by its sponsored name Suncorp Group, Suncorp Super Netball (SSN)) is a professional netball league in Netball in Australia, Australia. It superseded the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship, which also inc ...

announced it would be hosting three games at the venue for the league's Indigenous round. On 9 October 2020, the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the Women's sports, women's counterpart to the Na ...

announced that they would start their 2020–21 season in a North Queensland hub, with the Cairns Pop-Up Arena to host 20 games. On 10 February 2021, it was announced that the New Zealand Tall Blacks would be hosting a 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifier against the

Australian Boomers The Australia men's national basketball team, nicknamed the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition. Since the late 1980s, Australia has placed among the world elite teams, ...

on 20 February 2021. The Boomers won the game 81–52. NBL schedule changes due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

induced border closures forced the

to host games against the Cairns Taipans and the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL ...

at the arena.

Closure and transition

In October 2021, following the completion of upgrades to the Convention Centre, the Queensland Government announced that the Cairns Pop-Up Arena would be converted into a

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...

for

Screen Queensland Screen Queensland is an agency of the Queensland Government which seeks to expand the production of movies, television series, and computer games within Queensland, Australia. It provides financial support to attract producers to use Queensland a ...

. The transition of the arena into a film studio costs $6.8 million and will be completed by mid-2022.

References

{{NBL Arenas, state=collapsed Sports venues completed in 2020 Defunct National Basketball League (Australia) venues Defunct basketball venues in Australia Defunct indoor arenas in Australia Indoor arenas in Australia Cairns Taipans Buildings and structures in Cairns Sport in Cairns Sports venues in Queensland 2020 establishments in Australia 2021 disestablishments in Australia