THE Wulanda Recreation Centre has been further delayed, with no estimated open date confirmed, despite a manager being appointed.
Mount Gambier City Council announced the appointment of Belgravia Leisure as the manager of the facility this week, although construction is still underway.
Chief executive Sarah Philpott said there was no date for the opening of the facility.
“We haven’t got absolute confirmed timeframes, so we don’t have any information on the opening at this point, but we are working our way through,” she said.
“We know people are really keen to get access as soon as they can, but we are still working that through.
“It’s been an incredibly complex building project in these strange times that we live in, so we will jut keep working our way through with our construction company.
“The most important thing here is we have an operator on board, so that starts to get people talking about what it’s going to be like and how they are going to use it once we get the door open.
“What we are really concentrating on is that we want a great quality outcome because this is going to be here for our community for the long, long term and so while it’s more delayed than we anticipated, what we are focused on is doing a really good job because this facility is going to be amazing.“
She was optimistic about the appointment of Belgravia, which manages more than 200 facilities around Australia, and was hopeful it would mean more large-scale events using the facilities.
“Obviously they have good South Australian networks and connections, but they are also connected nationally around peak bodies and events and tourism and the like, and that’s what we wanted – we wanted an operator for us who already can hit the ground running and has all that skill and experience and is able to get the centre of to a flying start,“ Ms Philpott said.
“We are really excited.
“It feels like we are starting that next stage – we are still building, we are still completing that work, but we are getting ready for what the future looks like.
“Belgravia were really interested in a partnership with us, because they can see that this is an incredible regional facility and they want to be part of it as well, they are really excited by the opportunity it provides, and because they are so well connected their experiences and skills will help put us on that map.“
She said Belgravia would meet with key user groups and work towards coming up with entry and memberships costs for the public.
“They will be meeting with different community groups and all of the planned users in the coming weeks, and that will culminate in an interim annual business plan and budget and that will start detailing more of the entry costs,“ she said.
“We are not quite there yet but we are getting closer and now that we have the partnership in place, we are anticipating that will all start happening as they start communicating with different groups.“
Belgravia Leisure CEO Nick Cox said Belgravia Leisure was honoured to be appointed manager and operator of the Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre.
“Belgravia Leisure is proud to partner with the City of Mount Gambier to manage the Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre in Mount Gambier. This multi-purpose facility is designed to be a community space, with facilities and activities welcoming all ages and abilities, including children, families, youth, community groups, recreational and organised sports, and those with special needs,” he said.
“This development will provide substantial year-round indoor facilities, addressing many community needs. We are looking forward to working with Council in connecting the community to leisure,“ Mr Cox said.
Belgravia Leisure will commence staff recruitment in the coming months with a range of roles on offer to locals and suitably experienced individuals.
