Bayside City Council advise of work being set to commence on new basketball stadium at Sandringham Leisure Centre

Work on the new $10.88 million basketball stadium to be built adjacent to the Sandringham Leisure Centre in south east Melbourne is set to commence before Christmas.

The new four-court expansion of the Sandringham Basketball Stadium - taking the facility to eight courts - is the result of a partnership between Bayside City Council and the Southern Basketball Association (SBA), previously known as Sandringham Basketball Association, who will contribute $3 million towards the overall cost of the new facilities.

Explaining the demand for the new facility, SBA Chief Executive, Craig Weir stated “we have 12 domestic clubs representing over 620 teams and 5,000 junior players each season along with our adult domestic, junior (VJBL) and senior (Big V) representative teams, through to our NBL1 South Men’s and Women’s basketball programs.

“The new facilities will enable us to continue to support grassroots basketball in the Bayside region as well as further enhance the basketball pathway for many juniors and seniors who are aspiring to develop their basketball careers.”

SBA President Phil McFarlane said the timing of the announcement meant that the Association can now plan with confidence how to best support the current and future growth of basketball in the Bayside area, adding “we have been bursting at the seams for some time now and the court expansion will enable us to capture that growth and build upon the strong foundations that we have already established here.

“The funding confirmation for the additional courts is very welcome news in a challenging and difficult year, and I thank everyone involved for their efforts to get us to this stage.”

The new facilities will meet the current and future needs of basketball locally and enable Southern Basketball Association to expand its programs.

The Southern Basketball Association currently has more than 10,000 members and players participating in more than 22,500 games per year with over 1,000,000 visitors each year, including 450,000 spectators.

Council officers worked closely with local wildlife and environmental groups to design and appropriately locate the courts to protect more trees and create a safe corridor to the nearby Tulip Street Pond for frogs and other wildlife.

In addition to the four indoor court extension, the project includes: change rooms with individual showers and toilets; storage, reception, canteen and first aid room; air circulation system throughout stadium; an 80,000 litre water tank; 80kw solar energy system and additional car parking.

All facilities and businesses at Sandringham Leisure Centre will remain open during the construction with play continuing on the existing basketball courts.

The Lloyd Group Pty Ltd has been awarded the contract to build the new facilities.

Image: Concept for the new $10.88 million basketball stadium to be built adjacent to the Sandringham Leisure Centre.