State Basketball Centre to Receive $130 Million Upgrade

South East Melbourne Phoenix welcomes the Victorian Government’s $130 million budget announcement to upgrade and expand the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna South.

The $130 million expansion, announced in last week's Victorian State Budget, is an additional $22 million from the original funding announced in 2018, provided by the Victorian State Government ($82M) and Knox City Council ($25M), will allow the Phoenix to base the entire organisation at the State Basketball Centre, while giving the players the best training facilities in Australia. 

•    World Class training facilities for high-performance basketball including Phoenix
•    New administration facilities to support sports organisations and clubs
•    10 new indoor community courts for local basketball competitions

(The new State Basketball Centre will be a massive boost for the Phoenix and Victorian basketball. Credit: Cox Architects) 

The expansion will also increase capacity at the State Basketball Centre to 16 courts, encompassing 10 new indoor community courts. 

Phoenix CEO Tommy Greer is excited by the prospect of enhanced training facilities and housing the entire franchise under the same roof.

“To be able to add this announcement to what was such an enormously successful first year is a great step forward for the club. The Heartland of basketball embraced us in NBL20, helping us to record the highest ever opening night crowd for a new franchise, the highest average crowd for a first season and two sold out games at the State Basketball Centre,” Greer said.

“This announcement embeds us deeper into the Heartland, and connects us even more with the most knowledgeable, and passionate basketball fans in Australia.

“Improved facilities should attract even more quality people to our club from athletes to staff and that’s a really exciting prospect."

The State Basketball Centre currently welcomes almost 800,000 visitors annually and the project will increase visitation to more than 2 million people a year when complete.

Looking to rebound from a challenging 2020 with COVID-19 restrictions, Victorian basketball remains a high-demand, year-round sport within the state, encompassing 240,000 weekly participants and over 50 per cent of participants in Australia.

(The State Basketball Centre is the spiritual home of the Phoenix family)

Basketball Victoria CEO Nick Honey said the additional funding announcement was a sign of basketball’s popularity throughout the Victorian community and the redevelopment would help support participation growth in the South East as well as elevate the sport’s premier status in player pathway development. 

“This redevelopment will also allow us to expand our High-Performance programs and set world-class standards for elite athletes. This continues the Victorian Government's ongoing commitment to support the growth of basketball, which included a $5 million investment in 2019 into Basketball Victoria’s High-Performance Hubs across the state.”

Greer thanked the Victorian State Government for their support of the newest NBL franchise’s home base and to enable further growth of basketball’s pathway to the elite leagues.

“The South East Melbourne Phoenix are extremely appreciative of the Victorian Government’s support of our aspirations and look forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders towards what will be a great outcome for the sport."

“Victoria’s basketball roots run deep in Melbourne’s South East. This new centre will deliver a place where clubs can go and kids can realise their dreams by emulating and watching their basketball heroes in their own back yard,” Minister for Education and Member for Monbulk, James Merlino, said.

“More people hit the court here than anywhere else in the state, that’s why we’re getting on with delivering the ultimate home court advantage, from grassroots to elite, providing facilities where they’re needed most.”

Procurement of the head contractor is expected by early 2021 with construction to begin in mid-2021 and completed by approximately mid-2023.

Phoenix Media (18/12/2020)