Moorabbin Redevelopment

[Kildonan]

Saints hail Moorabbin redevelopment
7 June 2006
Angus Morgan
saints.com.au

St Kilda president Rod Butterss described the announcement of the $16.5 million Moorabbin redevelopment as "a breakthrough day" for the club.

...

"The facilities will be up there on a par with the best facilities in Australia."

Moorabbin Redevelopment: the facts
7 June 2006
Australian Football League

ST KILDA FOOTBALL CLUB

Local Council: City of Kingston

Total Project Value: $16.5M

Funding Contributions:


Linton Street/Moorabbin Reserve - New Club training and community facilities
State Government: $3.45m
St Kilda Football Club: $2.00m
Australian Football League: $2.55m
City of Kingston: $2.50m

South Road (New Social Club Area)
St Kilda Football Club: $6.00m


Proposed Redevelopment / Works details:

Linton Street/Moorabbin Reserve (New Club training and community facilities)
- Removal of all existing grandstands, buildings and fences, including Social Club facilities at Linton Street.
- Removal of the spectator viewing mounds surrounding the Eastern side of the ground.
- The development of the following facilities:
- New training and administration facilities for St Kilda Football Club.
- Joint usage community facilities including:
- 25m x 4 lane indoor pool;
- indoor sports hall;
- personal training rooms;
- meeting rooms;
-l ecture theatre; and
- sports medicine suites.
- New entrance, carpark and synthetic bowling green for the Moorabbin Bowls Club
- Return of over 23,000sqm of public open space (currently within SKFC lease) back to the public.
- Parkland beautification.

South Road (New St Kilda Football Club Social Club Area)
- Public café/bistro;
- Function room;
- A range of smaller function/meeting rooms;
- Administration Office for Southern Football League;
- St Kilda Football Club membership and merchandise areas;
- A sports medicine clinic.

Key Community Outcomes:

Linton Street/Moorabbin Reserve (New Club training and community facilities)
- Removal of “eyesore” buildings and grandstands.
- Elimination of any future public safety issues associated with deteriorating facilities.
- The development will provide a range of joint usage community facilities, including:
- a 4 lane 25m indoor heated swimming pool and public toilets and showers for learn to swim programs (which shall be run in partnership with the City of Kingston’s leisure team);
- A lecture theatre;
- A multi purpose sports hall, for use by the Football Club as well as local schools, clubs and local basketball associations (whom have high levels of unmet demand for training courts);
- Community meeting rooms and breakout areas;
- Improved access to the upgraded playing surface;
- Retention of the Moorabbin Brass Band at the reserve.
- The development will provide upgraded facilities to the Moorabbin Bowls Club and provide improved open space at the reserve.
- Return of over 23,000sqm of public open space (currently within SKFC lease) back to the public.
- Improved accessibility to public open space suitable for passive and active
- recreation usage.
- Parkland beautification.

South Road (New Social Club Area)
The development at South Road will also provide facilities accessible to the community, including:
- A function facility within the complex for use by a range of groups including local businesses, charities and the general public.
- The development of an administration area offices for community groups such as Southern Football League;
- Bistro for general public use.
- Commercial and professional suites to attract sports medical professional services.

The overall redevelopment at the Moorabbin Reserve will provide a net increase of approximately 23,000sqm of additional public open space.

Key Club Outcomes:

The development will provide a range of key outcomes for the Club, including:
- State of the art facilities for the club including training and medical amenities, locker/change rooms, dedicated football administration offices, treatment rooms.
-Improved viability through improved revenue opportunities such as merchandise and social club facilities and reduction in operating costs with the removal of redundant facilities.
- Improved engagement with broader community, Moorabbin Reserve users, the City of Kingston and local businesses.

Moorabbin Reserve to get a $16.5M upgrade
7 June 2006
St Kilda Football Club

St Kilda’s home ground, Moorabbin Reserve will receive a $16.5M facelift thanks to a new program to improve suburban football grounds and increase opportunities for Melburnians to get involved with their local club.

AFL CEO, Andrew Demetriou, and the Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks, today announced the upgrade as part of the $55 million Victorian AFL Club Facilities Funding Program.

St Kilda Football Club President, Rod Butterss, said the funding was a huge boost and would provide improved facilities for the Club’s training, administration and social activities.

Rod Butterss, said "The St Kilda Football Club has been working on the Moorabbin Reserve re-development proposal for over three years and is delighted with today's announcement for funding provided by the AFL, State Government and the City of Kingston. This re-development will see the Saints remain at Moorabbin for at least the next 30 years. The new development will provide state of the art training facilities for the St Kilda Football Club as well as providing a range of facilities for the community of the City of Kingston. As a result of the new facilities the Club looks forward to building new community partnerships in areas such as aquatic education and business to business networking. This announcement is a further step for the growth and development of the St Kilda Football Club."
The upgrade to Moorabbin Reserve will include the demolition of the existing grandstands, the return of over 20,000 sqm of open space back to the community and the development of new training, administration and community facilities. St Kilda Football Club’s Social Club will also be redeveloped along South Road.

The development will include a range of facilities that can be accessed by different community groups, including:
- 25mx4 lane indoor pool;
- indoor sports hall;
- function facilities;
- meeting rooms;
- lecture theatre;
- new synthetic bowling green for the Moorabbin Bowls Club;
- administration offices for the Southern Football League; and
- retention of the Moorabbin Brass Band at the Reserve.

Mr Bracks said the State Government was delighted to contribute $14 million to the approximately $55 million program to upgrade grounds and facilities for seven Melbourne-based AFL clubs.

“This program will transform existing club facilities into multi-purpose sport and recreation venues suitable for a range of community activities,” Mr Bracks said.

“It will improve the performance of our AFL clubs and offer more opportunities for the clubs to connect with the community.

“The program will be used to upgrade training facilities and administration offices, and provide new meeting spaces, function rooms and recreational facilities for local community groups,” he said.

Mr Demetriou said the AFL’s $10.3 million contribution towards the program over three years would ensure Victorian AFL clubs had facilities to match the professionalism and strength of Australia’s number one sport and enable all Melbourne-based clubs to compete with facilities of the non-Victorian clubs.

“This will improve the on-field performance but, importantly, it will also improve the connection between St Kilda Football Club and the local community and continue to build St Kilda Football Club as a major participant in the economic and social fabric of Victoria,” Mr Demetriou said.

The Minister for Sport and Recreation, Justin Madden, said the Victorian AFL Club Facilities Funding Program was a great example of a successful partnership between governments, sports bodies and communities working to increase sport and recreation opportunities for all Victorians.

“This program was developed in partnership with clubs and local councils to ensure it meets community needs,” Mr Madden said.

 

[Kildonan]

An Ordinary Council meeting was held at 1230 Nepean Highway, Cheltenham at 7pm on Monday December 18. This meeting was (in part) to decide whether the Moorabbin redevelopment would be passed through the local council proceedures.

It appears that the resolution was passed (in the Saints favour) by a vote of 4 - 3.

This means that the redevelopment can now proceed.

This is VERY GOOD NEWS to St Kilda supporters

 

[sainter]

Excellent news if true.

It staggers me why 3 councillors voted against the resolution and why there was significant opposition in the community for what seems to be an outstanding facility for both the football club AND the local community.

 

[Kildonan]

Sale of Moorabbin Reserve Approved
19 December 2006
St Kilda Football Club

On Monday night the City of Kingston Council met over the sale of 3850 sqm2 of land at Moorabbin Reserve to the St Kilda Football Club.

The Club was advised that the Councillors had voted in favour of selling the land on the corner of South Road and Linton Street to the St Kilda Football Club.

St Kilda Football Club Chief Executive Officer Archie Fraser said of the decision, “This is a positive step towards our future growth and the long term financial stability of the St Kilda Football Club.

It is just the first step of the planned redevelopment for our spiritual home Moorabbin and although we still have some critical issues to work through, this is a positive result for the members and supporters of St Kilda Football Club and the local community.”

The St Kilda Football Club looks forward to working with the City of Kingston, the Victorian State Government and the AFL to create the vision of an integrated facility that connects the St Kilda Football Club and the local community through this significant redevelopment at Moorabbin.

 

[Kildonan]

Saints staying put at Moorabbin
20 December 2006 Herald-Sun
Damian Barrett

ST KILDA'S future at Moorabbin is assured after a local council decision to sell the club a parcel of land for $2.1 million.

After two hours of debate on Monday night, City of Kingston voted 4-3 in favour of the sale, which paves the way for a full redevelopment of the Moorabbin site costed at $10.5 million.

The land to be bought by the Saints is a car park on the corner of South Rd and Linton St. It will be St Kilda's new social club base, including bistro, Hall of Fame and merchandise store.

Had the sale been rejected, the Saints would have left Moorabbin, their base for 40 years, and headed to Cranbourne East.

St Kilda chief executive Archie Fraser said: "It underpins the security of our club as it provides an opportunity to put a very good asset on our books in the longer term, and from a player development point of view it will bring us in line with the elite training facilities."

Redevelopment of Moorabbin is part of a state government initiative to assist some of Melbourne's major football clubs.

The government has committed $3.45 million, Kingston Council $2.5 million, the AFL $2.55 million and the Saints $2 million.

Approval by the council of the land sale also provides the Saints with a means to secure funding, estimated at $6 million, for the social club.

A four-lane lap pool, community centre and parkland will form part of the revamped site.

 

[Kildonan]

Saints back into debt to buy land
Jake Niall
December 20, 2006

ST KILDA says its multimillion-dollar purchase of land alongside its Moorabbin headquarters is a key step in developing facilities that will put it on an equal footing with the financially powerful clubs.

And the Saints, who will need to borrow money to finance the strategic purchase of the land — which is at the corner of Linton Street and South Road — say that their financial health is such that the debt holds no fears for them. The club had recently become debt free following a succession of strong profits.

St Kilda yesterday announced that the City of Kingston council had voted to approve the sale, which the club hailed as the first major step in its $15 million-plus redevelopment of its Moorabbin home.

The Saints plan to build a new social club on the 3850 square metres site, and president Rod Butterss said the acquisition was "very, very important" to the club's future.

"It provides St Kilda with the opportunity to be competitive from a facilities perspective — you know with gymnasiums and administration blocks, medical, rehabilitation and all the rest of it."

Butterss said the once impecunious club was comfortable with assuming some debt.

"We've done a lot of analysis work, financial modelling and analysis work on what this takes to work and I think the club has, you know, demonstrated certainly over the last three years that we're financially now very stable and we're able to — and would need to, as with any club — need to make prudent and appropriate investments in facilities going forward," he said.