Redevelopment of Sydney’s historic Concord Oval now underway

The $75 million redevelopment of Concord Oval in Sydney’s Inner West is now underway with venue’s two grandstands being demolished in advance of the construction of a new sport and community precinct and base for NRL club the Wests Tigers.

The redevelopment will include a ‘boutique’ grandstand for spectators, along with a multi-use indoor recreation centre featuring courts and rooms for community use and office accommodation and an elite training facility for NRL club the Wests Tigers.

Other facilities for the project, due to be completed by the end of next year, include an outdoor basketball court, barbecue facilities, landscaped areas and about 300 parking spaces.

While best known as a rugby union venue, having hosted one of the semi-final clashes during the first Rugby World Cup in 1987, over recent years Concord Oval has been Wests’ training and administrative base.

With the rugby league club's former facilities at the venue deemed to below the standard expected for an NRL club, the new facility will include state-of-the-art rehabilitation facilities, hydrotherapy pools and learning facilities.

The project, downsized from proposals several years ago for a "centre of excellence", which Wests had initially hoped to move into by 2019, is said to resemble what was achieved at Redfern Oval in South Sydney, redeveloped more than a decade ago.

Within a decade, the venue is expected to benefit from a station on the planned $20 billion-plus Sydney Metro West rail line between the central city and Parramatta will also be less than 200 metres from the oval.

Funding for the project comes from the NSW Government, which has contributed $42 million into the project, the City of Canada Bay Council ($15 million) and West Tigers ($18.5 million).

The venue also serves as the home for the West Harbour Rugby Club.

Click here for more information on the City of Canada Bay Council project website.

Images: Demolition at Concord Oval in Sydney's inner west (top) and an artist's impression of the Concord Oval redevelopment (below).