City Oval receives upgrade funding from State government

Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula visited City Oval on Wednesday, June 1, to announce the contribution, which will see the construction of an events stage, among other facilities, at the oval.

The project is set to support four jobs during construction and a further 11 indirect jobs when the facility is up and running, with a due date of mid-2024.

Horsham Rural City Council mayor Robyn Gulline said the contribution was one of three funding applications put forward by council to the state government, a starting piece in the wider City Oval Sawyer Park redevelopment project.

"We put in three grant applications to redevelop stage one of stage two, and this is the first lot of funding we have been successful for," she said.

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"Really grateful to the state government for their support of our vision, the community's vision, because the community reference group developed this vision."

A 12-person Community Reference Group was appointed in late 2020 and used a combination of pre-existing ideas for the area along with feedback gathered through the City to River Masterplan to come up with its detailed proposal.

The project will deliver a main stage with a covered shelter, accompanied by AV and broadcasting equipment, and a digital screen.

A new food and beverage outlet will also be installed, as well as improved pedestrian access on Hacking Street, between City Oval and Sawyer Park.

Mr Pakula said the idea had been in the works for a while, with a discussion between the council and government taking place on funding the project.

The funding will come from a new $100 million regional tourism infrastructure fund created by the state government.

"A couple of years ago, Sunil (Horsham Rural City Council chief executive) grabbed my ear at the bowls club and took me through the City to River plans they had, which were expansive and ambitions, and said that they would like some state government support," he said.

"This only happens because the council is really ambitious for the riverfront, because it has well-developed plans about how it wants to achieve its objectives, and because the government has a fund that can help them do that.

"I know that the ambitions go beyond what we are announcing today, but it is always great to see another piece of the puzzle put into place."

The City Oval Sawyer Park redevelopment will fit into the wider City to River project, a planned multi-stage activation of the Horsham Wimmera River waterfront.

Two further grant applications have been submitted to fund a new community facility with change rooms and new netball courts at City Oval, the results of which were still pending.

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