The Kew Recreation Centre will soon undergo a major redevelopment that will see it transform into a state of the art facility suitable for all stages of life, catering to a wide range of health and wellbeing needs, where everyone is welcome.
Status
Construction is estimated to begin mid-2020 and is expected to take approximately two years to complete.
About the project
The existing facility is in poor condition and no longer meets community expectations.
Redeveloping Kew Recreation Centre provides an opportunity to design a purpose-built facility to meet the needs of our growing community, with modern fitness and aquatic facilities for people of all ages, including a two-court stadium and additional open space.
The new centre will encourage greater participation in physical activity, which in turn will have significant health and wellbeing benefits for the Boroondara community.
Features of the new centre
The centre's new and expanded gym, aquatic spaces, program rooms and community space will cater for future demographic growth and provide more programmable space to allow people with a disability, young people, older adults and community groups to access programs concurrently at times that suit them, typically peak use times.
The new centre will serve as a facility for all ages to recreate, improve or maintain health and wellbeing, play team sports, connect with others and meet specialised health needs.
Some of the proposed components of the new centre include:
- dedicated learn-to-swim pool
- dedicated warm-water pool
- child-friendly indoor aqua play area
- indoor sport courts
- café area and spectator viewing space
- gym and indoor program spaces
- underground car parking
- newly created public open space.
Community consultation
Council wants your involvement in shaping your new Kew Recreation Centre. We will be working closely with you through every step of the project to make sure the new centre meets your needs.
Stage 1 community consultation summary
From August to September 2018, we held our first stage of consultation, engaging with 1,500 people from the community. We asked for initial ideas and preferences on what’s most important to you and have consolidated feedback to help develop a first concept design for the new centre.
During Stage 1, we held meetings with community groups, sports clubs, schools and advisory committees. We conducted community workshops and pop up sessions which were open to everyone to attend.
We also ran a survey online and via hard copy for two months.
Results snapshot
The community told us the below key principles were strongly supported when redesigning the facility:
- 95% said it’s important to have facilities for all ages, abilities and fitness levels
- 95% said it’s important the centre meets the current and future demands of your community
- 93% said its important the centre provides a range of options for improving health and wellbeing
- 72% said you want the opportunity to socialise.
The community also strongly supported the following activities:
- group exercise classes
- lane swimming
- rehabilitation and warm water exercise classes
- aqua play for children and families
- meeting to socialise
- stadium sports
- gym
- swimming lessons
- spa and sauna.
Throughout the survey we invited the community to give us additional feedback about what would be important. These were the most common themes and suggestions:
- better parking and access
- more pool spaces to accommodate different users
- retain spa and sauna
- better change rooms that accommodate families and school groups
- accessibility for people with a disability
- high standards of cleanliness and maintenance
- consideration of the centre’s environmental impact.
Stage 2 community consultation
Later in 2019, we will introduce the second phase of community consultation, where you will have the opportunity to see design concepts and offer further feedback.
If you'd like to be kept informed about the progress of this project, sign up to our mailing list.
Alternative locations once the centre closes
Once the centre closes for redevelopment, current Kew Recreation Centre members will have reciprocal rights at the other Council centres (Hawthorn Aquatic and Leisure Centre, Ashburton Pool and Recreation Centre and Boroondara Sports Centre) and are welcome to use them.
Members will also have the option to suspend their membership free of charge.
Environmental, traffic and noise impacts
Council will:
- undertake a formal assessment of the significance of any trees on the site and consider these results as part of the design
- work with architects to ensure the facility is designed with modern environmental and sustainability principles in mind
- work with all relevant stakeholders and authorities to ensure the new facility considers traffic implications, including safer traffic conditions for all modes of transport.
- consider the benefits of an underground car park
- undertake noise minimisation measures during construction
Delivering what’s important to you
This project is delivering on the Boroondara Community Plan 2017-27, Council’s key strategic document for the next decade. When creating the plan, Council consulted widely and 11,845 responses told us clearly that you value well-maintained public places where people of all ages and backgrounds can interact, learn and be active.
More information
For more information, please contact Sam Taylor or email [email protected].
If you'd like to be kept informed about the progress of this project, sign up to our mailing list.