Work to expand Victoria’s State Basketball Centre begins
Construction work has commenced on the $132 million expansion of the State Basketball Centre within the Knox Regional Sports Park.
The centre, located just off Eastlink in Wantirna South, opened in 2012 at a cost of $27 million, featuring a 3200-seat show court which has hosted NBL and WNBL games.
The expansion will see the number of indoor courts triple from six to 18, as well as high-performance facilities for the NBL South East Melbourne Phoenix and WNBL Melbourne Boomers.
A new regional gymnastics facility, ‘town square’ area and café also form part of the extensive plans.
The centre will be an administration base for Basketball Australia, the Phoenix and Boomers, Basketball Victoria and Knox Basketball, which boasts 11,000 members, making it one of Australia’s largest basketball associations.
Expected to open in 2023, the enhanced State Basketball Centre will become Australia’s premier basketball facility, located in the heartland of the sport, with more than two million visitors per year.
Sports Minister Martin Pakula said the new centre would help ensure Victoria remained the nation’s basketball headquarters.
“Victoria is the epicentre of basketball in Australia and our state centre will become Australia’s premier facility,’’ he said.
“It’s a great result for players of all ages and standards and means the future of the game in Victoria is strong.”
Basketball is one of the most popular sports in Victoria with half of all participants nationwide based in the state.
Basketball Victoria chief executive Nick Honey said it would help grow the game.
“The State Basketball Centre project is at the cutting-edge of basketball infrastructure and we’re thrilled to be part of this landmark development,’’ he said.
Knox Basketball sought to have its own 1000-seat mini show court in the project scope, but due to budgetary constraints this was removed, however the association continues to advocate for its own mini-show court or a future proofing option be added in some fashion.
The Victorian Government has committed $105 million for the project - the largest basketball infrastructure investment in the sports history - with Knox City Council increasing its contribution from $25 million to $27 million.
Australian construction company ADCO has been appointed to carry out the redevelopment, which will support more than 500 jobs in construction and more than 100 ongoing roles once completed.
