Heffron Centre Update
- Published Date
- 19/12/2022
- News Topic
- Upgrades & Improvements, Council, Sport
With 80% of work complete, the Heffron Centre is shaping up to be open in early 2023. This $58 million dollar project will establish Maroubra’s Heffron Park as one of Sydney’s great sporting hubs, right here in Randwick City.
Building our biggest project to date has been exciting and challenging – not to be unexpected when working on a construction project as big as this one.
The Heffron Centre will be a multipurpose facility with two indoor sports halls that will accommodate sports such as netball, basketball, badminton, volleyball and futsal. Additionally, it will house a dedicated gymnastics facility as well as play home to the South Sydney Rabbitohs’ high-performance centre with facilities to support Souths Cares’ educational and community programs.
The site employees up to 85 people each day, who have clocked up more than 115,000 working hours. Not to mention, it’s all been done during a time that has faced unprecedented challenges including record breaking rainfall and a pandemic.
Now, as the year comes to a close, we wanted to take a look behind the fences to see what’s been achieved so far.
“This world-class facility is going to deliver so much benefit to our community. We’re at the pointy end of the project now and it’s exciting to visualise the end result,” said Dylan Parker, Mayor of Randwick, who toured the construction site with Blake Solly, CEO of the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
“It’s looking fantastic. As a local resident, I drive past every day, so I’m used to seeing the changes to the outward appearance. But walking through today and seeing the detail on the inside, I’m assured this is going to be a facility that the Council, community and Club are going to be really proud of,” said Solly.
ADCO, our construction partner, have battled through some tough conditions to get to where they are in the project so far. It’s been a difficult year for the construction industry, facing challenges on many fronts including price escalations, supply chain issues, worker shortages and wet weather. ADCO, like all construction projects, has battled through 60 days of wet weather to get to where they are today. One benefit of the rain? The sports field, which has been laid with couch turf called Santa Anna is establishing better and faster than expected.
The next few months will be spent ensuring the vision for the project is realised. As more and more details and finishings are added to the project, it moves from being a construction site to a real facility that will be used by the club and community for years to come.
“I look forward to opening this facility to the community next year alongside the South Sydney Rabbitohs – it’s going to be a great asset to our City for many years to come,” said Mayor Parker.
STATS AT A SNAPSHOT
- 260 tonnes of structural steel used
- 2,200m³ of concrete has been poured
- 10,000m² of turf has been laid
- 65-85 workers on site each day
- 115,000 hours of work