The new-look WIN Entertainment Centre will also have a new name – WIN Arena. Image: Artist’s impression NSW Government.
It opened in 1998 with Bob Dylan, has hosted major entertainers such as Lady Gaga, Pink and Elton John and has celebrated NBL and NRL championships.
Now the WIN Entertainment Centre – to be known as WIN Arena – and the adjoining WIN Stadium will finally get a long-awaited redevelopment, expected to ultimately attract 150 events each year.
Under the plans, announced by Premier Chris Minns on Friday (23 January), the centre will almost double capacity, WIN Stadium will boast new and extended grandstands and a beachside complex will be developed in the long-awaited upgrade of Wollongong’s tired sports and entertainment precinct.
Mr Minns announced $17 million funding to unlock the next stage of planning – designs, reports and a construction tender – to bring the project to life. He and his Sports Minister Steve Kamper have committed to ongoing funding to complete the project, although no timeline has yet been set.
The Premier was joined by Illawarra MPs Ryan Park, Paul Scully and Anna Watson, as well as Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown, who have long championed the cause of redeveloping a centre which has in the past stopped an Illawarra Hawks NBL game when the roof started leaking and had a backboard collapse in a pre-game NBL warm-up.
Even performers such as Tina Arena have added their voices to the long chorus of demands to upgrade the almost 30-year old centre.
Mr Minns acknowledged “team Illawarra” for its ongoing efforts in getting funding for the centre.
“You don’t take a backward step in Wollongong and the Illawarra …. and you drive a hard bargain,” he said.
“I know that this has been a long time coming, but given Bob Dylan opened this venue many years ago, can I say The Times They Are A-Changin’?
“This is important for the Gong. This is planning money and it’s incredibly important in terms of market testing, getting the plan in place and ensuring that we, in effect, measure twice and cut once.
“But I also want to make it clear it’s not the end of the financial support for both this venue and the one next door.
“We know that it needs to be followed with genuine investment, large dollars to complete these projects and we are determined to do it, not just because this is a wonderful venue for the Illawarra community, not just because there’s great teams that fill out these stadiums, but the truth of the matter is, we need to invest in this beautiful part of NSW.
“It’s great for the economy. It’s fantastic for jobs. It will drive economic growth and investment in the future. And the truth of the matter is, it’s long overdue.”
The plans will boost seating capacity in the new WIN Arena from 5300 to 9500.
Once complete, the redevelopment will include a revamped WIN Stadium, featuring a new northern grandstand and an extended and reconfigured southern grandstand with improved player changerooms to support the growth of men’s and women’s sport in the region.
The precinct – expected to inject about $550 million into the local economy annually – will include a new beachside complex featuring a cafe, kiosk and toilets and multipurpose spaces for functions and special events on game day as well as all year round.
Both WIN Arena and WIN Stadium will offer improved food, beverage and merchandise outlets, modern corporate areas and function rooms, more toilets and sitewide accessibility improvements, including new entry gates and wheelchair access to the hill redevelopment.
During construction, more than 600 full-time jobs will be supported and up to 1100 roles during the life of the project.
Planning Minister and Wollongong MP Paul Scully said the funding pledge was a “city-shaping commitment from the government and a city-shaping plan in terms of Wollongong”.
“But this isn’t a Wollongong-only venue. We’ve got about 1.2 million people on our doorstep, many of which already come to events here and more of which we’ll be able to host in the future,” he said.
“This not only makes sure that the Wollongong area is looked after in terms of events and not only to make sure that the Illawarra is looked after in terms of events, it will make sure that South West Sydney is connected to world-class events as well.
“We expect this to attract around 150 events a year, not only making sure there are great world-class events that rival the UCI World Triathlon championships that your city has already attracted, making sure that we continue to get those world-class acts, but also making sure there are hundreds of jobs created out of people getting out of the city, enjoying the hospitality, enjoying the bars and the restaurants.”
Cr Brown and Destination Wollongong chair Jeremy Wilshire welcomed the “long overdue” announcement, which they said should now encourage developers to address the shortage of hotel accommodation in the city.
“It’s such an important facility for the region, important to our visitor economy and if it helps me get hotel rooms into the city, that’s the big game changer, too,” Cr Brown said.
“This helps their business case stack up, because they now know there’s going to be, potentially 150 nights where there’ll be activity.
“We know that people do come from out of region, but it helps with our bigger world triathlons and those major events where people are staying from Sydney to Kiama, and that’s fine, but we want the spend here in our region.”
Mr Wilshire said it was an exciting day for the region.
“Hotels absolutely work hand in hand in terms of demand,” he said.
“We want the events, but we also have to have the capacity to host them and to host events of a scale that the region deserves.
“So it is a great signal from the State Government to the private sector that this is open for business and that we are able to attract, through a world-class facility, events of significant scale.”
