Tomaree Sports Council says long awaited clubhouse rebuild will open new opportunities for Nelson Bay community

The new facility will feature accessible amenities, change rooms, storage rooms, canteen, a multipurpose room for training and events, a meeting room for sporting clubs and youth services, plus a referees and a first aid room.

"As well as catering to our sporting community, the new multi-purpose facility will create spaces for young people to connect with each other and valuable services," said Bruce Scott, president of the Tomaree Sports Council (TSC), who has been the driving force behind the development.

"Back in 2018 the TSC developed a masterplan for the complex at a cost of $46,000 to satisfy NSW government regional grant applications, and this project was identified as the key infrastructure priority. These facilities will improve community sport and attract events to the complex for years to come."

The project is being jointly funded by TSC with Port Stephens Council, the government's Stronger Country Communities and local sporting clubs Nelson Bay Football (soccer), Nelson Bay Touch and Nelson Bay Cricket.

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Mr Scott said that six six years ago council asset inspectors conducted their regular audit and identified asbestos in the original portion of the 50-year-old building.

It was decided that the entire building had to be demolished to pave the way for a modern and accessible building.

"With this news and the fact that the clubs had identified the difficulties running sporting events out of the building, we set about designing a new clubhouse. The growth of the soccer and touch football clubs also highlighted the shortfall in amenities, particularly as more women's teams come on board."

Mr Scott said that the project would not have been possible without the strategic vision and teamwork of the TSC and particularly the soccer, touch football and cricket clubs and the support of Port Stephens Council.

"The TSC established a steering committee to work closely with the council and the architects to design and manage the project, and develop a set of plans to meet user clubs needs for the next 50 years."

More than 2000 registered players currently use the complex for cricket, touch football, soccer and AFL.

Construction is expected to be completed in February 2022 in time for the Nelson Bay touch football Peter Wilson tournament which attracts around 5000 players and families to the Bay annually.

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