Jack Dyer Stand to be bulldozed in Punt Road Oval redevelopment

Richmond has outgrown its spiritual Punt Road Oval home and a link to its past will be lost when the club embarks on a $60 million redevelopment.

Richmond chief executive Brendan Gale in front of the Jack Dyer grandstand at Punt Road Oval. Picture: Michael Klein

A $60 million revamp at Punt Road Oval — boasting an expanded MCG-sized training ground — will force the demolition of the famous Jack Dyer Stand.

The historic Tigerland grandstand, built in 1914, will make way for new public seating and amenities, female change rooms, community facilities and a function centre — catering for crowds of up to 8000 for AFLW and second-tier men’s matches.

Richmond president Peggy O’Neal said the back-to-back AFL premiers had outgrown their spiritual home.

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“Richmond is where we belong, and Punt Road Oval is our home,” O’Neal said.

“We need to keep evolving as a club and after careful consideration, the board believes this redevelopment will best meet our future needs, that of our fans and the community.”

The Jack Dyer Stand is not heritage listed but has heritage overlay, requiring planning approval for demolition.

The Punt Road Oval masterplan will see the football department take over the club’s current headquarters, opened in 2011, and the construction of new facilities to house the Korin Gamadji Institute, Bachar Houli Foundation and its women’s football program.

Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale said: “As of late last year, we have had to relocate a large chunk of our administration staff into portable offices and long-term that is unsustainable.

“We have gone from one team to five in recent years (including the club’s wheelchair team) and that has put significant space pressure on both our football program and the broader administration, including some industry leading community programming.”

A render of the proposed Punt Road Oval redevelopment. Picture: Supplied

The Andrews Government will pour $15.5 million into the project on top of $15 million in funding secured from the Federal Government.

Richmond and other key stakeholders will raise the balance.

Gale said the proposed building, to be named the William Cooper Centre after the Indigenous activist who died in 1941, would provide:

ELITE-level facilities to support the growth of women’s football;

A FLEXIBLE learning space for the club’s Korin Gamadji Institute programming that empowers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth;

ACCOMMODATION for Melbourne Indigenous Transition School students who complete Year 7 on-site at Richmond Football Club;

A BASE for the recently established Bachar Houli Foundation.

“A strong football club is not only highly-competitive football teams and an administration to support them, but the broader work we do with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and through our diversity and inclusion programming,” Gale said.

“I’m particularly excited about what this facility could do for the Bachar Houli Foundation. “We see him as a national treasure and this facility could enable his Foundation, and the work it does to promote social cohesion, to really take off.

“So much of what Bachar does is nation building – this facility will enable him to deliver programs of national significance.”

Sports Minister Martin Pakula said: “Every footballer deserves an equal chance to play the game to the best of their ability and that’s why we back initiatives that provide a level playing field.

“Beyond the game, Richmond have shown leadership in their community involvement and the new facilities will allow them to extend this reach.”

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Originally published as Jack Dyer Stand to be bulldozed in Punt Road Oval redevelopment