Facilities and Infrastructure

Priority Part funded + Unfunded Projects

The pipeline for indoor facilities includes an additional 18 high-priority projects delivering 69 courts that have been identified and are in various stages of planning and funding.

Hunter Indoor Sports Centre

• The Hunter Indoor Sport Centre will deliver state-of-the-art multi-purpose indoor sports courts; allied health suites; cafe, social spaces; gym/movement studio, multi-purpose function rooms; change rooms; spectator seating and car parking. Co-located with the visionary Hunter Park Precinct, the project will deliver crucial indoor sport infrastructure to serve the Lower Hunter as well as providing an excellence hub for the Hunter Region.
• The project will address the chronic short fall in the quantity and quality of indoor courts in the region and provide athlete development and high performance opportunities. This will reduce barriers to participation that are currently preventing people from participating in sport and physical activity.
• The design vision for the Hunter Indoor Sports Centre is for a multifaceted sports hub that serves the whole community. All facilities are fully accessible and inclusive for all users regardless of age or ability. Courts will be marked and fitted out for multiple sports including basketball, netball, volleyball, badminton and futsal. The facility has been designed in modules to enable a range of activities and services to be provided at one time but connected through a central movement zone.

Functional Features

• Showcourt module – includes retractable seating so that in normal use contains 3 courts but in ‘show mode’ can hold approximately 2,400 spectators and includes a function room overlooking the main court
• High Performance module – includes one standard court and one training and performance hub that will include a range of specific training and performance and analytical equipment to help all athlete reach their optimum levels
• Community court modules
  • Two 3 court sports halls enable connectedness yet separation of activities, each big enough to accommodate full sized international futsal and/indoor hockey courts for tournament play
  • One two court hall provides a separate training and competition space for an alternative activity, it also provides an opportunity for specific group users (e.g. school, and community service providers) to utilise a secure space
• Allied health hub – will be available to service providers that support and complement the core functions of the centre, connecting community health as well as athlete development
• Administration spaces (upstairs) – provide accommodation for Newcastle Basketball, Basketball NSW, Volleyball, Hunter Academy of Sport and for a future NBL team (potentially other partner sports)
• Studios and rooms – combined provide a multi-functional suite of spaces that can cater for fitness, physical conditioning and testing, education, meetings, functions and events.

Funding and Staging

• $25m was granted to Newcastle Basketball in 2019
• Some funding was expended on planning for previously identified sites at Hillsborough and Glendale
• The remaining funding is adequate to deliver 6 courts in a stage 1 development
• Additional funding $15m is being sort to deliver more courts in Stage 1 (8 courts) and further tranche to fund the full development (Stage 1 and 2)