The newly redeveloped pavilion at Warragul's Baxter Park was officially opened yesterday following a $3 million transformation.
Baw Baw Shire Mayor Cr Annemarie McCabe and Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing joined representatives from the Gippsland United Soccer Club, Council and the community at a ribbon cutting ceremony declaring the new facility officially open.
The redeveloped pavilion includes:
- New female friendly player and official changerooms
- A club office/administration area
- Storage facilities
- A first aid room
- Accessible public/spectator toilets
- A cleaners room
- A pitch lighting upgrade
- An improved carpark
Significant car parking improvements and pitch lighting upgrades were also carried out at the reserve and fed into the total project value.
Baw Baw Shire Mayor Cr Annemarie McCabe spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony saying Council was proud to deliver another safer, more inclusive, and accessible facility for local sporting clubs.
"It's wonderful to see so many members of the Gippsland United Football Club here today, who are a reminder to us all about how exciting these facility upgrades are and how much they mean to grassroots sports".
"We also thank both State and Federal Government's for their funding support on this important project and for their ongoing commitment to improving sporting facilities across Baw Baw Shire", she said.
The $3 million project at Baxter Park has been jointly funded by all three levels of Government, including a $1.9 million contribution from the Federal Government's Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program towards the entire project, a $1 million contribution from the State Government's Local Sports Infrastructure Fund towards the pavilion upgrade (Female Friendly Facilities Stream) and a $42,000 contribution from Baw Baw Shire Council.
Pavilion upgrade works were carried out by local contractors James G Morrison Builders following an extensive tender process, and the carpark improvements were completed by local contractor Kubale Constructions.
The recently unveiled works at Baxter Park follow the $2 million synthetic pitch installation which took place in 2021 and completes Council's total overhaul of the sporting infrastructure at the site.
