Altona Hockey Club is calling on Hobsons Bay council to allocate $265,000 in its next budget to complete a design phase for a new facility.
In a budget submission, president Alex Tyrrell said the club was seeking to redevelop its pavilion.
“We acknowledge the impact the global pandemic has had on all levels of government and the difficult role local governments have to remain financially responsible but still service the communities needs,” he said.
“However, we believe we have a strong case for a project which will greatly benefit the local Hobsons Bay community.
“The current Altona Hockey Club pavilion at JK Grant Reserve was built in two stages with the initial pavilion built in 1968 and the social space added in 1981, which was the last major upgrade to the pavilion.
“We are the sole hockey club in Hobsons Bay and have competed continuously in the highest level of hockey in Victoria since the 1970s.
“However, due to the age of the building it impacts our ability to attract and retain members, as well as adding additional work on a volunteer membership to maintain the building.”
Tyrrell said the kitchen, which had a club-funded major upgrade 15 years ago, did not meet all aspects of the council’s food handling audits.
He said the facilities for females were inadequate.
“We have long been an equal gender participation club but our women’s change rooms have been in a portable for many years now and storage remains an issue as we continue to use an old and leaky shipping container for storage needs,” Tyrrell said.
“We would like our facility to reflect the well-established diversity of our club and the standards now expected of sports offering participation opportunities for all genders.”
Tyrrell said the club had money to contribute to the project.
“As an additional benefit to Hobsons Bay council, we have funds ready to make a significant contribution to the overall pavilion project that could be used in the 2021-22 financial year to lessen the council contribution,” he said.
“We currently have $55,000 for the pavilion redevelopment project in a sinking fund, ready to contribute to the project of the full redevelopment.
“Over the past 17 years, we have continued to contribute heavily to capital works and facility development, to a total of over $400,000.
“The $265,000 requested to be included in the 2021-22 annual budget to complete a design phase for the facility upgrade is based on information from council officers on draft capital works budgets.
“The budget figure could be reduced if the available Altona Hockey Club funds ($55,000) could be used for the design phase, and we would hope to be followed by the amounts for the full redevelopment in 2022-23 ($700,000) and 2023-24 ($1.3million).”
The council is expected to adopt its final 2021-22 budget at a meeting on June 29.
