This major redevelopment will transform the Lavington Sports Ground into one of regional Australia's premier sporting facilities, capable of hosting local, regional, state and national carnivals, community sport and other events.
Following the successful official opening in late November 2020, a number of community opening events were held in January with over 70 local residents attending to tour the new facilities.
The venue is attracting significant interest in carnivals and major events. In January 2021, the NSW Minister for Sport made the exciting announcement of funding for AlburyCity to deliver a Big Bash match for points next season. Details of the fixture will be released later in the year. On-going discussions with the AFL ACT/NSW and school sports convenors over the past 12 months in relation to the Lavington Sports Ground have resulted in the following carnivals being locked in for 2021:
Stage 3 projects including the terraced seating and associated concrete works were completed in early March. Plans for landscaping and tree planting around the precinct will be developed and finalised over the coming months with works to take place from mid-2021. Netball upgrades will commence after the 2021 O&M Football/Netball season.
For more events, please visit the whats on page on the venue website.
On Friday 27th November, Member for Albury Justin Clancy, Farrer MP Sussan Ley, and Albury Mayor Kevin Mack officially opened the redeveloped venue. AlburyCity thanked the Federal and State Governments for helping to make the $19.6M project a success, with the Commonwealth contributing $4.026M and the NSW Government providing $3.153M.
The event showcased the second playing arena, new amenities, function room, and grandstand with all attendees agreeing the redevelopment puts the venue in a strong position to attract sporting events and carnivals at all levels, with major benefits for Albury-Wodonga’s visitor economy.
Major sporting codes were in attendance with the AFL announcing Lavington Sports Ground as NSW/ACT’s winner of the Ken Gannon Community Facility Project of the Year Award for 2020.
AFL NSW/ACT’s Facilities & Government Manager Anthony Brooks said, “Albury City Council have created a Regional Sporting Hub that will create special moments, memories and a legacy….thousands of boys and girls, men and women from this region and abroad will enjoy a safer and more inclusive experience, whether that’s in a school competition, a club game, an event or as an elite athlete,” Brooks said.
“The AFL is really proud to have partnered with all the project stakeholders and we look forward to strengthening our partnership with the Council to host some great events and carnivals in the years ahead.”
As winners of the NSW/ACT award, the Lavington Sportsground redevelopment will now be considered by a national panel to potentially win the national award.
Lee Germon, CEO of Cricket NSW also toured the venue, stating that is the best facility he has seen in regional NSW, in an interview with the local radio station, 2AY (full interview below).
With many developments, drawing to a close, many stage 3 projects are progressing with the Centaur Road Car Park now completed and planning for the netball upgrades underway with the Lavington Panthers Football Club. The concrete terraced seating is due for construction in early 2021 and a tender for landscaping and tree planting around the precinct will be advertised in the coming months.
Some exciting project milestones have been reached, with the grandstand extension completed and remaining internal works including painting and venue fit-out carried out, leaving only the furnishing still to come.
The Centaur Road car park construction has commenced and the new car park and entrance at the corner of Centaur Road and Hanna Street have been completed.
A tender for terraced seating, shade and, a new ticket box to be situated between the two grounds will be advertised in the coming weeks.
The installation of a new (25sqm) scoreboard and associated works will take place as soon as the engaged Melbourne based company (Solid Display Systems) can travel to Albury.
The planning and implementation of the remaining stage 3 projects continues. This includes additional pathways, signage, fencing, netball facility upgrades, and further tree planting and landscaping.
The following YouTube link provides some recent drone footage of the LSG precinct showcasing the grandstand upgrade, new amenities, pavilion, and the Pearsall Street car park.
The grandstand will be officially handed over to council in September and we have commenced planning to facilitate COVID Safe access for stakeholders over the coming months. To date, COVID restrictions have not allowed for the facilitation of site visits.
We are aware of the considerable interest from all stakeholders and community members in this project and look forward to celebrating this significant milestone with you next month.
More information on tours and planned events will be available soon.
After extensive feedback from the community through a recent “Have a Say” consultation process, Council has resolved to retain Lavington Sports Ground as the name for the venue. Signage on the new grandstand section will be installed to reflect the retention of the name as the redevelopment continues.
The grandstand extension has now taken shape, with construction 70% complete and on track to be completed in August. Most of the upgrades to the existing grandstand have been finished, while the scale and scope of the extension can now be clearly seen.
As part of stage 3 developments, works are progressing well on the Pearsall Street car park and access paths with completion expected at the end of May while construction of the formal car park off Centaur Road will also commence in coming weeks.
Solid Scoreboards have been appointed to supply and install a new 24 square metre electronic scoreboard for the main ground. The new scoreboard will be almost twice as big as the existing scoreboard with a number of new features, including improved advertising, messaging, player profile and remote scoring capabilities. The existing scoreboard will be moved to the second ground.
We’re also developing new terraced seating, shade and a timekeeper/coaching box for the new ground with a new ticket box entry to the main ground. Detailed designs for these additions are now being finalised.
The redevelopment includes a major upgrade of the existing facility and the addition of new playing fields and an amenities building to the east. Specifically, Stage 1 and 2 works include:
We've recently been successful in obtaining $3.153M through the NSW Regional Sports Infrastructure Program to complete Stage 3.
Works include:
This additional funding will mean the original master plan for the facility (adopted by Council in April 2016), can be fully completed and the project is now extended to 2021-22.
| Original Budget | $10.1M |
External Funding: $4.026M - Federal Government $250,000 - AFL $50,000 – User Groups |
| Project Variations | $5.5M | Unsuitable soil remediation and investigation costs and higher than expected cost to complete Stages 2 and 3A |
| Stage 3 | $4M | Range of improvements see below ($3.154M - NSW State Government funding) |
| Total | $19.6M |
Total External Funding: $7.48M |
There’s some exciting progress as the redevelopment of the Lavington Sports Ground moves ahead, with improvements to on-site facilities and some minor landscaping works almost completed.
Lavington Panthers Cricket Club has been given access to the ground so it can begin preparing the turf wicket tables, with full access available from September. Temporary access and usage arrangements will be in place until the new amenities building and Centaur Road car park are completed.
Following the establishment of all underground services and connections, the concrete slab for the new amenities building will be poured next week. Also, the underground preparations for the grandstand extension are well advanced, including the first pouring of the concrete footings.
These tasks provide significant milestones as the size and extent of the project will become more noticeable as the structures continue to take shape
AlburyCity last month appointed the Gemba Group to complete the Facility Management and Business Development Strategy for the ground.
This strategy will cover management and operational options, commercial opportunities, marketing, branding and signage and methods and efficiencies to maximise use of all facilities.
Gemba Group consultants held consultation meetings with user groups recently as part of the process for this project.
It’s exciting to see what will be regional Australia’s premier sports ground taking shape before our eyes and we look forward to providing you with another update as work progresses.
AlburyCity has awarded the contract for Stages 2 and 3A of the redevelopment to Hansen Yuncken Pty Ltd for a total cost of $10.145M (excluding GST).
The works will deliver a new amenities building with four change rooms, umpires’ rooms and kiosk, electrical upgrades and enhanced sports field lighting, a grandstand extension with 500 extra seats, a function room, coaches’ box and media area as well as a new car park and entrance at the corner of Hanna Street and Centaur Road.
The new sports field has an excellent couch grass surface, and we have now engaged contractors to complete all remaining works on and around the new field to ensure it will be ready for the start of the 2019-20 cricket season.
In the coming months tenders will be invited for the construction of the Centaur Road car park and a perimeter fence will be constructed around the new sports field.
Grass is growing on the new oval in a milestone for the redevelopment program.
The development of the oval, which is to the east of the main oval, is now in its final stage of construction.
The sand base and ‘sprigging’ of the couch grass were completed in November and summer conditions combined with irrigation of the surface will establish an excellent drought-tolerating playing surface over the coming months.
The tender for the construction of the new amenities and upgrades and extension to the existing grandstand will close in late December 2018 and the contract is expected to be awarded in February 2019.
It follows a significant variation to the project when a large amount of unsuitable soil was found on the site in February 2018. This required the removal of the soil, a redesign of the playing surface and the compaction of imported clay.
The unsuitable soil was not detected through the geotechnical assessment and subsequent design phases of the project. At its meeting on Monday 10 November, Council resolved to take no further action on this matter.
The redevelopment is taking shape with the on-going development of the new sports field to the east of the main oval. Detailed plans are being finalised for construction of the new amenities building and grandstand extension and upgrades.
Irrigation and drainage works have been completed and the installation of a sand layer as part of the sports field profile is nearing completion. Couch grass is being sown from November to promote growth during the warmer months.
