Boorowa is set to be the sporting envy of the region, with the new upgrades to Boorowa Showground officially opened last Friday afternoon.
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The upgrades include an accessible clubhouse with a canteen, a function centre, change rooms, showers, toilets, a viewing area, car park improvements and water storage tank installation.
Hilltops Mayor, Councillor Brian Ingram, said there has been a lot of hard work and dedication put in to the get the facility up and running.
“These things don’t happen unless a lot of people put in lot of hard work, from our state member down to all the volunteers in the community,” Mayor Ingram said.
Hilltops Councillor Wendy Tuckerman said the talk of upgrades began after complaints of cold showers from footy players.
“The facilities at the Showground were in need of some love and attention,” Cr Tuckerman said.
“We have a fantastic carnival here, the touch football and netball carnival, that attracts I think 7000 people… that highlighted to us that the facilities weren’t able to cope.
“We always knew that we needed to be connected to sewerage and water up here at some stage.”
Cr Tuckerman said a masterplan was then created with the assistance of community groups and council and there are still a number of jobs to be completed at the showground.
“We knew we had to have the plan in order to attract funding and to this day, we are still attracting funding under that plan,” she said.
The plan then attracted funding, including a $1 million grant from Clubs NSW back in 2016.
“This particular facility is probably a little bit bigger than we initially anticipated but we got there in the end and monies was used from that grant and also from reserves from the former Boorowa Council and also Hilltops Council made sure that the water and sewer was connected,” she said.
“Particular thanks to all the staff, I know I’ve probably been the councillor from hell trying to get this over the line and I apologise for making sure that happened.”
Cr Tuckerman thanked Mayor Ingram, builder Alan Banks, the local contractors, Boorowa Community Bank and Pru Goward for their support.
“This is your legacy and it’s going to be a fantastic facility for a lot of clubs to utilise and the community to utilise, it’s also a bit of a function centre and I’m hoping the community can make the most of utilising this facility,” she said.
Member for Goulburn, Pru Goward MP, was also on hand to officially open the complex.
“The ambitions for this centre were obvious right from the beginning, we want Boorowa to be a regional hub for sport and community activities,” Ms Goward said.
“I know Hilltops in general is investing very wisely in developing its infrastructure.. I know this facility will be very well used.
“May it bring the prosperity and opportunities we want it to produce.”
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