St Kilda Primary students dealt fresh blow as financial difficulties drive local community gym closure
St Kilda Primary School pupils who lost their school hall to renovations have suffered a fresh blow after being left without a basketball training venue.
St Kilda Primary School’s budding basketball stars have been dealt another blow after their community gym announced it would cease its programs, leaving local teams without a training venue.
St Kilda Police and Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) has served as a lifeline for students at the local government school who have had limited access to adequate indoor sporting facilities following the demolition of their school hall in renovation works.
The multipurpose hall was removed to make way for classrooms as part of a state government funded upgrade that finished in 2022.
Twenty-two local basketball teams, mostly made up of St Kilda Primary School students, have since relied on the St Kilda PCYC Inkerman St gym to participate in their beloved sport – including nine teams who train there weekly.
But from next month, they will no longer have a space to shoot hoops after the St Kilda PCYC was forced to cease all gym-related programs following “significant financial headwinds”.
In a letter sent to families, St Kilda PCYC chief executive and secretary Chris Potaris said a combination of year-on-year financial losses, a decline in program funding and unbudgeted costs for maintenance and repairs have created an “unsustainable financial model”, prompting the decision.
“The difficult but necessary decision was made to close the gym and cease all unfunded programs effective 3 October 2025,” he said.
The organisation has incurred losses exceeding $600k over the past three financial years and is tracking to a further $280k loss this current financial year.
St Kilda Primary School Council President Caroline Thornton said the gym closure was another blow for students – many of whom live in flats, apartments and small spaces and are in desperate need of an indoor sporting facility.
“The closure of PCYC St Kilda highlights the deep recreational inequity in our area,” she said.
“For many years, PCYC has served as an essential extension of our school, providing much-needed facilities and programs that we simply cannot offer on-site due to lack of facilities.
“Its closure is a significant loss for our entire school community.”
Ms Thornton, who is also leading the campaign for a new sport and community hall, said the children were confused and sad about the gym’s closure, especially given there were no answers for where they’d train next.
“The closure of PCYC, combined with the lack of alternative training spaces, will have a devastating impact,” she said.
“In the absence of our own school facility, it threatens to remove one of the few reliable avenues our young people have to stay physically healthy, socially engaged, and supported by community.”
A new school hall is in St Kilda Primary’s Master Plan but remains unfunded, despite a change.org petition calling for funding amassing over 3300 signatures, with an additional 500 paper signatures.
St Kilda PCYC President Anne Budgen said the community group understood and deeply appreciated the outcry and the community’s efforts to keep the foundation’s gym afloat through fundraising.
“These offers would not raise sufficient funds to enable the operational continuity of St Kilda PCYC, and would only delay the inevitable forced closure,” she said.
Mr Potaris added the absence of government support was also fuelling the fire.
“There’s never been a more urgent time to fund a youth charity like ours, especially given the alarming increase in youth crime,” he said.
“Despite our ongoing efforts to garner vital financial assistance, we receive no financial support from this state government.”
The pair are in the process of making a final appeal to the state government for support before they commence the gym’s sale process.
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Originally published as St Kilda Primary students dealt fresh blow as financial difficulties drive local community gym closure
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