Minister for Community Sport, the Hon Ros Spence MP, has announced that the Victorian State Government will provide $800,000 for the Northern Grampians Shire Council Central Park Female Friendly Change Rooms Upgrade, with funding to be provided through the Local Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSIF).
The grant, announced at the Central Park Clubrooms on Wednesday afternoon, will enable Northern Grampians Shire Council to facilitate support for an increase in overall participation in sport and active recreation within the community.
The announcement was welcomed by Northern Grampians Shire Council Mayor Murray Emerson. “We’re proud to partner with the Government on this exciting pavilion upgrade. It will go a long way to supporting the growing numbers of locals keen to get involved at Central Park in an even wider range of sports at the ground.”
Female participation in sport at Central Park has grown at a strong pace over recent years and the aging change rooms and amenities, originally designed for male users, require urgent redevelopment in order to support inclusive participation and bring the football pavilion facilities up to contemporary standards.
The planned upgrade will provide the football pavilion with four new AFL change and amenities rooms and two associated massage rooms, an extension of the footprint of the pavilion to incorporate the development of new AFL Umpire change rooms and amenities and a redeveloped foyer/entry including provision of a lift to the second-floor pavilion responding to AFL Preferred Facilities Guidelines, providing for female participation and programming and universal design principles.
The upgrades are expected to be completed by March 2024.