Club upgrades long overdue

Work began yesterday on a $557,000 upgrade of the Boyanup Recreation Grounds, with the junior football clubrooms and kitchen being the first facilities to receive a makeover, courtesy of the Capel Shire Council and State Government.

According to South West Junior Football League secretary Vance Burton, the work is long overdue with the upgrades set to make a big difference to the Cardinals Football Club.

“It’s good to see that the Shire of Capel is spending some money on it,” he said.

“Any upgrades will be beneficial to junior football.”

Work on the clubrooms and kitchen is expected to be finished by April, while refurbishments of the basketball clubrooms will start next month and are expected to be finished by mid-March, followed by the bowling clubrooms completed in June.

The Boyanup hard courts will also receive a refresh, one of the focus points of the project, with resurfacing works set to start in April and also be completed by June.

According to Boyanup resident Mal Kitchen, the community began the push for upgrades to the grounds 12-to-18 months ago.

“I’m keen for these sporting facilities to happen, especially for the hard courts for the kids,” he said.

Capel shire chief executive officer Ian McCabe acknowledged many of the upgrades were overdue, including bringing the toilet facilities up to Australian standards.

“The conversation has been going on for some time and clubs will come to us and say they’re noticing certain needs,” he said.

“Some of these needs have been accumulating over a period of time, they haven’t just come out of the blue.”

The facilities will be closed during the refurbishments.