Dilapidated park lands sports facility finally set for upgrade
Adelaide City Council will approve a long-awaited upgrade to the community sports building at Park 21 West (Golden Wattle Park/Mirnu Wirra) after years of debate about building size and subpar facilities.
Last night, the council’s City Community Services and Culture Committee approved a concept design for Park 21W which upgrades the 1960s building to support the growth of the sporting clubs that use it.
For eight years, the Adelaide Community Sports and Recreation Association (ACSARA) has been pushing to redevelop its grounds and clubrooms located between South Terrace and Goodwood Road in the southern park lands.
ACSARA leases the park from the council and has 48 teams across netball, football, Auskick, soccer and cricket. It also sub-lets the facilities to 14 other community sporting groups.
BEFORE:
The current sporting facilities at Park 21W. Picture: Brett Hartwig/InDaily.
AFTER:
Proposed design for Park 21W. Picture: artwork by Allan Sumner/Exhibition Studios via Adelaide City Council
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ACSARA president Mark Borgas told councillors it’s been a “long and frustrating journey” but they are satisfied the current design is a long-term, sustainable solution.
“It’s been a long and frustrating journey during which we have invested thousands of volunteer hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars towards the master plan that had been approved, including lighting and new cricket training needs,” Borgas said.
“The last two years can be best described as a reset, and although we are now faced with a much smaller design, there is at least a policy framework with broad community support, and we are ready to and prepared to invest several million dollars and many more volunteer hours bringing this project to fruition.”
Despite a $2.55 million commitment from the club and state government, city councillors removed budget funding for a two-storey version of the project last year due to concerns about the building’s footprint on the park lands.
The total project cost is about $5.6 million and will upgrade the existing 375 sqm building to a footprint of 583 sqm, which is equal to 0.2 per cent of the park’s total area.
BEFORE:
South-west view of the club rooms from the oval. Picture: City of Adelaide
AFTER:
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Proposed render of the new south-west view of the club rooms from the oval. Picture: City of Adelaide
Councillor Henry Davis said the latest proposal is a “compromise”.
“The reality is that we’ve got women playing sport now, we need disabled access toilets, we need to provide much better, we have to separate children and adults when they’re getting changed,” he said.
“I think we’re just going to accept that there are going to be some bare minimums that we’re going to have to deal with, which might increase the footprint.”
Photos of dilapidated park lands facilities shown to councillors in 2023. Picture: City of Adelaide
This comes after sporting clubs told the council old and inadequate park lands facilities discourage female and junior players and have forced teams to be cut.
Councillor Janet Giles said the upgrades to the clubrooms are a good example for future proposals because it is fit for purpose and addresses access and sustainability.
“I know this corner of the city particularly well and I know that particular clubroom quite well having played AFL nines there foolishly in my late 50s,” Giles said.
“It’s an example of a clubroom that has been let go to a state that’s not acceptable even by any community standards, for any sport, and requires us to look at our policy and make our commitment that we will take responsibility for making sure that facilities and park lands are of a decent standard.”
The committee also approved its Park Lands Community Buildings (Sport and Recreation) Policy which improves the approach to community sports infrastructure in the park lands, factoring in sporting code guidelines.
The council will vote to officially pass the plans at the council meeting next Tuesday and works are slated to begin on the building in 2025/26.