When $7m Geelong sailing school will open

Plans for a multimillion-dollar maritime education complex along Geelong’s waterfront have been delayed.

Geelong Yacht Club $7m sailing school is/was scheduled to open this year. Updated pic of the site.

Plans for a $7m sailing school along Geelong’s waterfront have been delayed.

The new maritime education complex, which forms part of the Royal Geelong Yacht Club’s staged redevelopment, was originally slated to open in 2023.

But RGYC Commodore Roger Bennett confirmed on Tuesday that while plans were moving ahead, the club has been forced to negotiate several delays.

“The project is at the stage of reviewing construction costs within the current budget,” he said.

This vacant block is due to become the home of the new sailing school. Geelong Yacht Club $7m sailing school is/was scheduled to open this year. Updated pic of the site.

“We have navigated through several delays including building design changes, planning processes and a change in preferred tenderer.”

The school forms part of Stage 1 of the $21m Geelong Waterfront Safe Harbour Precinct Development plan.

Once completed, the complex will provide water safety training and sailing programs for schools across the state and will be shared with the Victorian Sailing School.

Mr Bennett confirmed previous buildings on the site had been demolished, and construction is expected to begin in the third quarter of the year.

“There is an estimated construction period of 12 months,” he said.

The Victorian School Building Authority kicked in $3.75m to construction, with state, federal and local governments also splashing cash.

Mr Bennett said the school would be a “vital community asset” in teaching water safety, education and skills training in collaboration with Newcomb Secondary College and the Victorian education department.

“It will also be Geelong region’s central hub for the delivery of a wide range of the clubs programs for people of all ages and abilities,” he said.

“(The harbour redevelopment) will create a vibrant contemporary public precinct promoting a diversity of community uses, attract visitation critical to economic recovery and growth and lead the way to further investment in the entire waterfront in the future.”

The second stage of the redevelopment will see the overhaul of key public domains and buildings to improve public access and use.

“We are proud to support the Maritime Education Complex development, which will provide first class education to students,” Geelong MP Christine Couzens said in 2021.

“The Geelong Waterfront Safe Harbour Precinct development project will provide jobs and attract visitors to Geelong and benefit our local economy.”

Originally published as When $7m Geelong sailing school will open