Alberton Oval redevelopment: Port Adelaide planning to rebuild bowls club, add new stand to boost capacity

On a day Port Adelaide unveiled its new $25m high-performance centre, chairman David Koch spoke about what it means for the club and what’s next in the Alberton Oval expansion.

Port Adelaide has bold plans to keep expanding Alberton Oval’s footprint so it can boost the ground’s capacity and engage with more community groups.

The Power has completed three redevelopment stages of its home base over the past three years, the latest being a $25m high-performance centre unveiled on Saturday.

Next it aims to transform the neighbouring Port Adelaide Bowling Club – a site the Power owns.

By rebuilding the bowls clubrooms slightly further south on acquired land and erecting the ground’s third grandstand, the Power would increase Alberton’s capacity to 10,000.

The revamp of that part of the ground would also include a community learning centre.

Power chairman David Koch hoped redevelopment of the bowling club could start in the next 18 months.

Port Adelaide chairman David Koch (centre) with Janelle Cuthbertson and Connor Rozee. Picture: Dean Martin

“It’s early stages at the moment and we’re in consultation with the (Port Adelaide Enfield) council and the bowling club are big supporters of it,” Koch said.

“The grand vision is to be a great high-performance sporting precinct that the community gets as much benefit out of as we do.

“This will become a boutique, broadcast stadium with 10,000 for AFLW, SANFL and then AFL reserves.”

Koch said the Power’s new high-performance centre would be a big selling point for the club in attracting new players.

Situated on the eastern side of the ground, it comprises an indoor training field, two basketball courts, a soccer pitch, gymnasium, wet recovery areas, locker room, lecture theatre, medical amenities, player wellness space, media studio and a kitchen.

Koch said Port players and officials visited similar centres at interstate clubs to help with the design and advised the Power to not go too big so as to not lose “a sense of belonging”.

Alberton Oval has been the club’s home since 1880.

Zak Butters, Cuthbertson and Rozee in the new gym with Amari Cummings, 11, of Fulham Gardens, and Rhys Jones, 9, of Royal Park. Picture: Dean Martin

The $25m high-performance centre was unveiled on Saturday. Picture Dean Martin

And the club has even bigger plans. Picture: Dean Martin

“We used to get 25 or 30,000 people here in the ‘50s and ‘60s in the SANFL,” Koch said.

“It’s always been a high-performance sporting precinct but we had to build one for today and keep evolving.

“We’ve been here at Alberton for almost 150 years, this ensures we’ll be here for another 150.”

Previous stages of Alberton Oval’s $30m transformation, which began in 2021, included a new social club, museum, improved ground lighting, a scoreboard, an upgrade of the Fos Williams Family stand to create a home for the Power’s AFLW side and removal of concrete mounds supporters watched games from on the eastern side.

West Adelaide Basketball Club will use the courts and local soccer teams will access a new rectangular field, which is a secondary training area for Port.

The funding breakdown is: $15m from the federal government, $3m from the state government, $5m from the AFL, mostly for the lights, and $7m from the club.