Five new floodlights will be shining bright at Bowman Park in Brisbane's West tonight, ensuring the local community's facilities are prepared for many seasons to come.
Federal Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Senator for Queensland, Anthony Chisholm, was in attendance as the lights shone for the first time, illuminating a new chapter in the 100-year-old public reserve history.
Bowman Park is home to Bardon Latrobe FC, a football club with strong community links and a legacy founded over a century ago. Today, the club remains as active as ever, boasting over 900 registered players from under-6s to over-45s.
The park has also been home to the West Brisbane Cricket Club for over a century, as well as a favourite exercise spot for the local community, and regular host of school sports events.
With a $150,000 investment through the Federal Government's Investing in Our Communities Program, the eight fields comprising Bowman Park are now fully compliant with modern lighting standards, and are ready to immediately host night fixtures.
The new light-posts contain modern LED fittings which are energy efficient and reduce light pollution for the neighbouring community and wildlife. They replace the six-ageing wooden and steel poled halide lights, which were deemed to be non-compliant to current legislative requirements and deemed a public liability risk.
The upgrades relied heavily on local manufacturing and construction by sourcing materials from across Brisbane and South-East Queensland, and supported 30 jobs throughout the construction phase.
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Senator for Queensland, Anthony Chisholm:
"Supporting local communities across our city is about investing in the right mix of projects which improve our quality of life for all those who use Bowman Park, that's joggers, children playing football or people walking their pets.
"There's something here for everyone, and our Government is committed to ensuring these vital green spaces in our cities are prioritised for upgrades and keep delivering for local communities like Bardon."
