Former Australian tennis champion John Fitzgerald took part this morning (Friday) in the official launch of the $8 million upgrade of regional sports facility Arkinstall Park in Tweed Heads South.
The first stage of the overhaul includes a regional high-performance tennis facility, new netball courts, improved access and areas for passive recreation.
Mr Fitzgerald, OAM, a former Australian Davis Cup captain, joined council general manager Troy Green for the occasion.
Mr Green said the project was ‘integral as a regional sporting facility for a shire which will grow by an extra 40,000 people in the next 15 years, and as a regional facility, it will also attract participants from southern Gold Coast’.
He thanked the federal government for its funding, the lion’s share of the total contribution, saying ‘the standard of the facilities and particularly the tennis courts would not be to competition grade; our residents now have just as much opportunity as anyone in the city to participate in a representative team sport at both regional and national levels’.
‘Importantly, this facility is an economic driver, bringing competitors and their spectators and families from across the border and throughout the region,’ Mr Green said.
‘Council’s contribution was significant on its own but the Australian government’s funding, as well as contributions from Tennis Australia and Tweed Netball Association, was the catalyst to lifting the standard of this facility to a regional level for this and future generations.
Total funding for the project was $7,741,800 ($2,620,000 from Tweed Shire Council, $4,991,800 from the federal government, $100,000 from Tennis Australia and $30,000 from Tweed Netball Association).
For more information on Arkinstall Park or the proposed stage-two of the upgrade, visit http://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/ArkinstallParkUpgrade
