The City of Greater Geelong and Kardinia Park Stadium Trust will join forces to create a new masterplan for the Kardinia Park precinct, set to be produced by the end of the year.
The two organisations met with key stakeholders of the park including the Geelong Football Club and the Kardinia Aquatic Centre this week, to kickstart the next step in setting up a future vision for the precinct.
“The City of Greater Geelong manages 65 per cent of Kardinia Park – it’s a very significant place for both elite and community sport in our region, and this comprehensive process will give everyone the chance to have input on the reserve’s long term future,” Geelong Mayor Sullivan said.
“We’re looking forward to productive discussions with all the stakeholders, and the broader community to create this new vision to support the community for the next 30 years.”
The City will hold engagement sessions which will include a series of workshops, due diligence and investigations involving both the park’s stakeholders and the broader community over the next six months to help form the plan.
Kardinia Park Stadium Trust Chief Executive Gerard Griffin said local consultancy firm Urbis will help facilitate this process.
“The City of Greater Geelong and Kardinia Park Stadium Trust have engaged Urbis to facilitate a comprehensive vision for the entire Park and Precinct,” Mr Griffin said.
“This process will look to meet the growing needs of the precinct, tenants and our community.
“We look forward to creating a future-focused vision that works in the best interests of this growing community for the next 30 years.”
It comes as Geelong Council continues discussions with the state government to commit funds to an upgrade of the Kardinia park Pool as part of the cancelled Commonwealth Games legacy items.
The state government has committed to delivering the infrastructure promised for the canned event, which was set to be a brand new aquatic facility at Armstrong Creek.
The City has told the state its preference was for an upgrade the existing centre at Kardinia Park.
The new plan will follow the recent completion of the GMHBA Stadium redevelopment, which culminated in the opening of the Joel Selwood Stand earlier this month, the fifth and final stage of the project.
Close to 40,000 fans packed the stadium for the AFL Round 1 clash between Geelong and St Kilda.
