What's happening in Mary Lee Park?
by Shane Sody, with reporting by John Bridgland
Reports have emerged about a likely extension to a sports club building in Mary Lee Park (Park 27B) off Park Terrace opposite Bowden.
For decades, this Park has been the home of the West Adelaide Soccer Club.
Their juniors play here on Sunday mornings. The old shed is clearly not fit for purpose, with cramped rooms, non-uni-sex toilets and a tiny kitchen.
Mary Lee Park (Park 27B) nestled between two railway lines, in your north-western Park Lands.
The old existing West Adelaide soccer club shed in Mary Lee Park (Park 27B)
A club committee member has confirmed that $2 million of State funding has been secured to upgrade the facilities.
No building designs have been released but it's considered likely that any upgrade would feature a second story, to enable club facilities to expand without necessarily extending the footprint of the existing building.
Watching West Adelaide Soccer Club juniors play on a Sunday morning in Mary Lee Park (Park 27B)
Adjacent oval lights towers, which were recently demolished and removed (because one had collapsed, prompting a safety alert) will also be replaced as part of the project.
Over the past decade, many sports organisations, clubs and schools have extended their buildings on your Park Lands, accommodating private function rooms, bars, and private storage areas.
Most of the new buildings have replaced smaller previous buildings, either with expanded footprints or expanded height, or both.
Examples of extended sports buildings erected on your Park Lands over the past decade. Clockwise from top left: Adelaide Comets and Western Districts Athletic Club building in Ellis Park / Tampawardli (Park 24); new double-level building for Prince Alfred Old Collegians, nearing completion in Bundey’s Paddock/ Tidlangga (Park 9); three storey SA Cricket Association “pavilion” in Gladys Elphick Park / Narnungga (Park 25; proposed new double-storey building for Lutheran Sports Association in Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21W); Adelaide City Women's Soccer in Peppermint Park / Wita Wirra (Park 18); and Adeaide University Graduates Clubrooms off MacKinnon Pde in Bullrush Park / Warnpangga (Park 10)
Junior soccer under way on Mary Lee Park (Park 27B)
A recent “business update” report to the City Council advised that Council staff were “currently undertaking feasibility assessment of proposed construction footprint.” It was expected that the contract would go to tender in “mid-2023” with completion by 2024.
The City Council has “Building Design Guidelines” for any construction within your Adelaide Park Lands, but when the State Government is funding a building, (such as in this instance with a $2 million contribution) it can sidestep these Guidelines by having a new building declared to be a “major project”.