Port Noarlunga Football and Sports Club needs new $2.4m sports complex
A SOUTHERN sports club is “desperate” for a $2.4 million multi-sport complex upgrade as more and more players, especially juniors, flock to play there.
A PORT Noarlunga sports club is “desperate” for a $2.4 million upgrade of its multi-sport complex to cope with growing player numbers.
The Port Noarlunga Football and Sports Club wants to replace its existing 1960s home with a new building that will house clubrooms and unisex changerooms for 800 football, cricket, netball, tennis and other players.
Club president Phil Wood said he hoped Onkaparinga Council would consider contributing $1.4 million for the upgrade in its 2019/2020 budget.
The other $1 million would be sourced from the state’s Office of Recreation and Sport when the grant application round opens next February.
“Our facility is generally very old, below standard, and needs to be improved,” Mr Wood said.
“We are already growing 10 to 15 per cent year on year with our juniors alone.
“We anticipate another 35 per cent growth on top of that in the next three to five years, and the facility can’t cope now.
“If we don’t improve it now, we’d be desperate trying to cope with this influx of new people coming into the club.”
At present, the 83-year-old club is forced to put up marquees during junior games to cope with ballooning numbers.
Port Noarlunga is expecting its 17 football teams to grow to 25 in five years.
“The money it takes to redevelop the existing building would cost almost as much as knocking it down and doing it again — that’s why we want to get a new facility that could last another 30 years or so,” Mr Wood said.
“The new facility will be built on the boundary, in front of the existing building so they can coexist for awhile … once the new building is complete, the old one will be demolished.”
He hoped construction would start in the summer of 2020.
Cricket B-grade player Dennis Kennedy, 51, is excited about the “fantastic” project.
“My son plays for the under-15 cricket team and my daughter is in the under-10 cricket team,” he said.
“I moved from Seaford and we didn’t have clubrooms there at all.”
The club identified an unused portion of land on the western boundary of the sports ground that the council could sell for an estimated $1.8 million.
However, should the land be sold, the council is not required to use the profits solely to recoup its investment in the new sport complex.
The council is investigating the idea of revoking community status on the unused piece of land and rezoning it as residential before a sale can happen.
But Mr Wood said the sale may take too long. He urged the council to include the upgrade in its budget.
SANFL planning and infrastructure manager Casey Grice said a partnership approach in conjunction with building company Ausco could reduce the project cost by up to 30 per cent and halve completion time.
“The SANFL designed the facility to support the significant growth of female participation in football, while ensuring the building can host regional matches such as league finals, SANFL games or pre-season AFL games,” he said.
The SANFL also will assist in developing grant applications to funding sources, including government agencies and the AFL.