Seaview High School’s sports hub plan, featuring new clubroom, six courts
SEAVIEW High School wants to position itself as a major sporting centre in the south, under $1.5m plans for new clubrooms and courts for tennis and netball.
- What the schools of 2050 will be like
- School space squeeze forces gym classes
- McAuley school set for Marymount site
- Immanuel College’s $3m market-style middle school
- Westminster School’s $35m upgrade plans
SEAVIEW High School wants to position itself as a major sporting centre in the south, under plans for new clubrooms and courts for tennis and netball.
The project – a partnership between the school and Marion Council – would feature a large clubroom which could potentially be used for tennis, soccer, football and cricket teams, with four new tennis courts and two multi-use courts.
It would also include new court lighting, extra carparking and landscape work at the Seacombe Heights school.
Seaview High principal Penny Tranter estimates the project’s “ball park” price tag would be about $1.5 million.
Marion Council last week agreed to spend $37,000 on designs for the work – an amount the school will match.
Ms Tranter said her school’s six courts were no longer usable, so it had been subleasing council-owned courts just outside the school on Calum Grove.
But these too, had deteriorated to the point where they were no longer suitable for the 90 students who played tennis, including overseas students who enrolled specifically for the school’s tennis program.
“There’s been some subsidence and the courts haven’t been level and they’re not up to club standards,” Ms Tranter said.
A new clubroom and major courts overhaul would help Seaview High strengthen its position as a community hub for local sports teams.
“We very much see our school as the heart of this community,” Ms Tranter said.
“There aren’t many ovals around that have quite the space we’re able to provide.”
The school’s new clubroom would be open to other clubs outside of school hours and include a kitchen and freestanding toilets.
Seaview High already had agreements with Sturt Lions Football Club, Glenelg Football Club Morphettville Park Cricket Club and St Martin de Porres School to share its oval space.
Other teams, too, were keen to play there.
These included Dover Square Tennis Club, which president Paul Hodgson said this year had to find other courts to use in the southwest to cater for all of its teams because those it had leased from Marion Council on Calum Grove had become degraded.
“We were starting to get complaints from other clubs, so we’ve had to seek out courts further away,” Mr Hodgson said.
Dover Square is based at South Brighton, but its four courts there are not enough to cater for the 150-strong membership base.
Seaview High special interest sports program co-ordinator Leigh Charlesworth hoped the school’s sports upgrade would help provide new club pathways for students.
The school has committed up to $500,000 towards the project, which would also likely require further state or federal funding to get off the ground.
The Cove Football Club chairman Leo De Pretis said his club would welcome the chance to train at Seaview High during the off-season, as space in the south was at a premium.
Senior players were using a pitch at Hallett Cove R-12 School, which was small and “not in the best condition”. “Ideally, we’d like somewhere the pitch is a bit more up to scratch and there’s amenities,” Mr De Pretis said.
Marion councillor Raelene Telfer told last week’s meeting she was “excited that we are moving forward” with the project, which had been years in the making.
What do you think of the school’s plans? Leave your comment below.
