Kardinia Park gets another upgrade
Thursday, 15 September 2011 00:26
Cats fans and sports fans generally in Greater Geelong will benefit from improved spectator facilities and amenities with the announcement of $10 million in federal government funding towards the total project cost of $46 million at Kardinia Park.
Federal Minister for Regional Australia Simon Crean announced funding has been made available to the Geelong Football Club Limited as part of the first round of the Regional Development Australia Fund (RDAF), worth almost $1 billion.
“When completed in June 2012, the capacity of the stand will increase by more than 7,000 to 34,500. The project will deliver a sports museum, permanent broadcast screens, improved food and beverage facilities and a members lounge,” said Mr Crean.
Member for Corangamite Darren Cheeseman said the addition of 1500 square metres of function space for more than 1000 people will enable larger functions to be held in the Geelong region as well as access to quality community development programs.
“The new facilities will enable the broader Geelong community to access high quality sport and events not currently available in the region,” Mr Cheeseman said.
“Normally these opportunities would require people to travel to Melbourne or they would only be available during daylight hours.”
A total of 106 jobs will be created during the construction.
The project is aligned with Regional Development Australia (RDA) Barwon South West.
The RDAF program supports the infrastructure needs and economic growth of Australia’s regions. It is designed to leverage state, commonwealth, local government, private and not-for-profit investments.
In Round One, $150 million in grant funding has been provided to 35 projects around Australia leveraging a total of around $418 million in project costs.
RDA committees played a major role in working with local communities to identify projects that were consistent with their regional plans.
The Chair of the Independent Advisory Panel, Mr Christian Zahra, will assist with a review of RDAF Round One and provide recommendations to the Minister to consider implementing for Round Two and subsequent rounds of the program.
This review will consider ways in which the impact of the program might be strengthened and the application process streamlined.
Round Two of the RDAF program will be valued at $150 million, with applications to open in November this year.
