Newcastle Show chairman Peter Evans has called on the NSW government to investigate building a new basketball stadium at the showground instead of on sports fields at New Lambton.
Newcastle council and the government have faced a backlash from residents, New Lambton High School parents and various sports clubs since plans emerged in December to move the basketball stadium to Crown land now occupied by Wallarah and Blackley ovals.
Mr Evans said the existing Newcastle Entertainment Centre site at the showground could offer a viable alternative if the government abandoned its plans for high-rise apartments on the land.
The government has started rezoning the basketball stadium land and much of the showground for high-rise housing as part of its new Broadmeadow "place strategy".
The strategy includes demolishing the entertainment centre and building a new multi-purpose indoor arena next door to Hunter Stadium.
City of Newcastle said last week that Wallarah and Blackley ovals were the "only site" that met the criteria for a new basketball stadium.
Mr Evans said shifting the entertainment centre would free up space for a basketball stadium at the showground and allow the annual Newcastle Show to keep operating in its existing location.
Mr Evans said in May that government plans to develop at least half the showground site for housing while allowing the annual show to keep operating "won't work".
The government's Broadmeadow strategy has set off a game of musical chairs for the various groups who now use parts of the 63-hectare Hunter Park precinct.
Other groups affected include Broadmeadow Magic football club, Newcastle and District Tennis Association, Newcastle Harness Racing Club, the Westpac rescue helicopter service and the Police Citizens and Youth Club.
Wallarah and Blackley ovals fall just outside Hunter Park, and the NSW Office of Sport said last week that "at this stage there is no provision for a basketball stadium to be included" in the proposed sports and entertainment precinct.
The former Coailtion government committed $25 million to a new basketball stadium in 2019.
Newcastle Basketball lodged a development application for a stadium at Hillsborough in 2020, but the Hunter and Central Coast Regional Planning Panel ruled the site unsuitable.
Rising construction costs mean the $25 million will pay for only a first stage of six new courts.
Newcastle Basketball president Erica James said on Thursday that the association was open to any suggestions for a new stadium but changing location again would be "very expensive".
"We're making substantial progress with the Wallarah site, and we're committed to that," she said.
"Every time there's a change of site we lose money.
"We've invested a lot of money in the Wallarah site for flood and traffic studies."
Ms James said the showground had not been on the association's radar as a potential location and she was unsure if the entertainment centre site was big enough for the project's 12 basketball courts and parking.
