Maroondah Mayor, Councillor Rob Steane is proud to announce that the new multi sports complex at HE Parker Reserve will be named Maroondah Nets.
“The construction for the new Maroondah Nets is now complete, with handover to Council taking place this week, and operations commencing from Saturday 18 May.
“If you haven’t already visited the new complex, the construction fences are down and you will find that the building very closely resembles the architect’s design and vision as it nestles within the landscape of HE Parker Reserve.”
“The name Maroondah Nets identifies the location of the facility, as well as referencing the nets that are used by each of the sports that will use the facility, including netball, volleyball, badminton and table tennis,” Cr Steane said.
Maroondah Nets will be home to Melbourne East Netball Association (MENA), the Ariels, and the Maroondah Volleyball Association. Schools, community, disability and sporting groups will also use the venue throughout the year.
“Following extensive community consultation the architect designed a building that uses the footprint of the ten former netball courts and pavilion to create a new indoor four court, multi sports complex to enable training and competition for netball, volleyball, badminton and table tennis.” Cr Steane said,
“In addition, four new outdoor netball courts have been built to new compliance standards with spectator viewing areas and good connectivity to the facilities within the building,” Cr Steane said,
Also inside the building is a cafe, male and female toilets, a Changing Places toilet facility, change facilities, officials and first aid rooms, sport association offices, a gym and a multi-purpose room.
Grandstand seating accommodates approximately 300 people and can be supplemented with courtside seating for an additional 360 people (approx.) within the venue.
The indoor courts also have line marking for volleyball and badminton.
“Public artwork by Melbourne-born visual artist Ash Keating has been included on the exterior retaining walls to outdoor Court 5. The large scale painting draws inspiration from the native flora found along the Dandenong Creek and the two regionally significant tree species, Muttonwood and Yarra Gum,” Cr Steane said,
New accessible parking spaces and parallel parking has been established immediately adjacent to the building entrance to create a shared zone for pedestrians and vehicles, and providing an easy and safe drop off and pick up area. The existing access road, car park layout and trees throughout the carpark have been retained, with minor works to take place to improve parking efficiencies within the precinct.
Maroondah Nets was designed to sit over the former netball courts to achieve the maximum retention and protection of the native trees, with tree protection zones in place as part of the contractor’s environmental management plan.
“The landscape design includes the planting of more than 2,700 trees, shrubs and grasses around the new building to complement the landscape character of HE Parker Reserve,” Cr Steane said,
Council has a policy to ensure environmentally sustainable design (ESD) is incorporated in all new projects. ESD elements used in the construction of Maroondah Nets include:
- high performance building fabric with good levels of insulation
- efficient taps to minimise water consumption
- rainwater tanks plumbed to toilets throughout the complex and as irrigation to planter boxes
- LED lighting solutions
- solar panels
- energy efficient heating and cooling solutions.
Maroondah Nets is owned and operated by Maroondah City Council under the management of Maroondah Leisure and joins the family of Council’s aquatic and leisure facilities: Aquahub, Aquanation, Croydon Memorial Pool, Dorset Golf, Ringwood Golf and the Rings.
