DEMOLITION of the archaic facilities at Moorabbin began on Friday as St Kilda prepares to return to its spiritual home early next year, with the club hoping to eventually host JLT Community Series games at the venue.

Saints CEO Matt Finnis and former captain Nick Riewoldt were on hand to start bringing down the building, each taking turns with a sledgehammer to put some holes in a wall. 

The club moved from Seaford in 2010 but found that training base too small. Being a large distance from the centre of Melbourne was also a bugbear for the players.

"If all goes to plan … we'd like to think that the first stage of the redevelopment will allow the players and coaches to be back operating out of here in our pre-season very early next year," Finnis said.

"We'll continue to build out our facilities for community football to be able to take advantage of those a bit later on in 2018."

The venue will be known as RSEA Park and construction will be fully completed by late 2018.

"The sky's the limit when you create a facility here, when you have the vision that we have for RSEA Park," Finis said. 

"We would love to be playing AFL Women's games here, we'd love to be playing JLT games here. 

"VFL football is a big part of that journey, as well as the pathway through TAC Cup." 

The Saints started a fundraising campaign a fortnight ago to help bridge the $2.4 million shortfall to pay for the redevelopment, with close to $100,000 raised by supporters so far. 

It was an acrimonious break-up between St Kilda and the Kingston City Council that saw the Saints move out of Moorabbin, but Finnis said those issues had been resolved. 

"They've shared in the vision that we have to be able to connect football at all levels, and realised that this can be a vibrant part of what is a vibrant community," he said. 

Riewoldt hopes to be around when the Saints finally return permanently to their spiritual home. He will be 35 by the start of next season and has played 319 games since being drafted with the first selection in 2000. 

"My intention is to play as long as I possibly can and to be able to come back to Moorabbin, I'm pretty desperate to do that," Riewoldt said. 

"But we'll wait and see how this year plays out." 

He said his body felt in similar condition to what it had at the same stage in the past few years – a good sign, considering he led the AFL in marks last year while playing largely on a wing and finished third in the Trevor Barker Award. 

Not being the captain for the first time since 2006 has brought about some changes, with defender Jarryn Geary taking over the role. 

"It has been a little bit different. Even the first pre-season game that we played, I wasn't too sure where to run out – do I wait until the end or do I run out second? (There's been) a few little quirky things like that but 'Gears' has done a great job so far," Riewoldt said. 

Riewoldt shared a story about an incident that happened before training at Moorabbin one day, as a few players were out on the ground, that demonstrated how dilapidated the facility had become. 

"It was a really windy day (and) we heard an almight crack. A piece of corrugated iron broke off the roof and wedged about halfway out towards the wing, just like a Rolf Harris wobble board. It was stuck into the turf," Riewoldt  said.

"It would have cut someone in half."

Meanwhile, St Kilda has begun talking to the AFL about reaching a more profitable deal with Etihad Stadium. 

The AFL took control of the ground last October, with the Saints hoping to take advantage of that.

"We've commenced discussions with the AFL. It will take a little while as we work through the modelling on that. We want the right deal, not necessarily the quickest deal," Finnis said.