The local Shire community is one step closer to having access to a host of state-of-the-art sporting facilities, with two new playing fields at Cronulla High School unveiled last week.
Todd Carney and Nathan Garnder made an appearance, along with Australian Water Polo star Nicola Zagame, staff and students from Cronulla High School and representatives from Woolooware Bay property partners Bluestone, when the new fields were revealed to be just weeks away from being playable for high school and junior league use.
Set to replace the two western fields adjacent to Remondis Stadium at seasons’ end, the new facility will become home to the Cronulla-Caringbah Sharks Junior Rugby League club, as well as a base for training and games for the Sharks junior representative teams.
Pre-season training on the fields is also likely for the Sharks NRL squad during the summer months ahead of the start of the 2015 season.
Peter Legg, the Sharks General Manager of Finance and Commercial Services said the club was proud to be supporting the project.
“We are happy to be a part of the upgrade to the Cronulla High fields and facilities. Once complete they will be of great benefit, not only to the Sharks and the Cronulla Caringbah junior league club, but also to the local sporting community,” Legg said.
Bluestone General Manager Matt Crews says the relocation of the fields will provide the area with a new sporting hub, and allow for the economic advancement of the region with a brand new town centre.
“The original playing fields have been used by the Cronulla-Caringbah JRLFC for decades. We have a keen understanding of the importance of the identity of the Club and accordingly, we’re providing great new facilities including a two-level clubhouse for local kids and athletes,” Crews said.
“We’re excited that as part of this new development, we can also provide something that will also be of tangible benefit to Cronulla High School and the existing and future community for decades to come.”
Cronulla High Principal Tony Ibrahim in explaining his school’s excitement surrounding the project, said the new fields are a great asset to both the school and to the local community.
“A facility such as this gives our teachers and students access to a fantastic playing and teaching resource,” he said. “It will help to enhance many parts of our curriculum including sports, PDHPE, Hospitality and Business Studies.
“It will also assist us to develop links with organisations such as the University of Wollongong through joint educational and sporting programs.”
With the playing fields in place, focus has now turned to the next stage of the project – the brand new Clubhouse, se to be completed by local builder and long-time Sharkies sponsor A&P Parkes Constructions. The 200-person capacity Clubhouse will include change rooms and a canteen on the ground floor, with a viewing area and clubhouse on the top level and a car park for 72 cars.
The next stage of the project then kicks off the Cronulla Water Polo Club’s long-time vision for an encompassing “all of sport, all of community” Centre for Excellence in the Sutherland Shire, a facility which is planned to include a new 50-metre indoor pool and 25-metre outdoor warm-up pool.
Nicola Zagame, a member of the 2012 Australian Olympic team, plays for the Cronulla Sharks in the National Water Polo League. Zagame, who has represented Australia on the women’s national water polo team at both junior and senior levels, said the proposed facilities were a key to continued sporting success in the area.
“This is Cronulla Water Polo’s 50th Anniversary year, and in those 50 years we’ve delivered 25 Olympians and many more national representatives and coaches,” Zagame said. “This new facility will ensure we can continue to produce elite athletes from the local area and support the community.”
Woolooware Bay, developed by Bluestone on land owned by the Sharks, is planned to commence construction later this year.
The Woolooware Bay Community
Located on the waterfront with views reaching Botany Bay and back to the city skyline, and surrounded by playing fields and golf courses, Woolooware Bay is within a few minutes of Cronulla’s famed surfing beaches.
The masterplanned community designed by Scott Carver incorporates a rejuvenated foreshore that will connect the development’s three key elements – a residential community of around 600 apartments by leading architects Turner; the Remondis Stadium and revitalised Sharkies Club; and Bay Central, a retail precinct with the area’s first full-line supermarket, restaurants, cafes, health and medical facilities with parking for more than 700 cars.
Residents will also benefit from a wish list of communal facilities. They’ll have private use of The Pinnacle rooftop infinity pool, the rooftop Sunset Cinema, the W Club with pool, treatment rooms, gym and spa, the Deck lagoon pool, landscaped ‘home’ style gardens and access to the revitalized foreshore via ‘a walk to the beach’ style paths. Bus links to Cronulla, Caringbah and Woolooware train stations will also come into play as residents move in.
Along the foreshore, an inclusive playground created in partnership with the Touched by Olivia Foundation is planned, as are extensive cycleways and walking paths.
Bluestone Capital Ventures No 1 Pty Ltd (Bluestone) is working with the Cronulla Sutherland Leagues Club to bring Woolooware Bay to life. Bluestone has provided development expertise to private and institutional clients throughout Australia in all sectors including integrated mixed use master planned estates, residential, industrial and commercial, land subdivision and investment management.
The key people within Bluestone have been involved in major redevelopment of waterfront sites including Woolloomooloo Bay Wharf, Rhodes Waterside, Balmain Cove in Sydney’s Inner West and major town centre developments such as Norwest Business Park.
