HAWTHORN has been given the green light to commence the construction of the $100 million Kennedy Community Centre in Dingley, after signing a construction contract this week.
The Hawks bought the 28-hectare property, which was previously used as a landfill site, in Melbourne's south-east in 2016, with the plan to turn the pile of dirt into one of the premier training and administration bases in Australian sport.
That plan has taken some time to finalise but is now one step closer after Hawthorn reached an agreement with ADCO Constructions.
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Work has been underway for some time to level the site, but official commencement of construction is set for next February.
Hawthorn expects the project to take up to 18 months to complete, with the hope that Sam Mitchell's program will be able to pack up and move in the first half of the 2024 season.
The training and administration facility is set to include two training ovals (one that will replicate the dimensions of the MCG), a large indoor training facility that will accommodate proper drills, similar to indoor NFL setups, a state-of-the-art aquatic and gym centre, plus the ability to host AFLW games with broadcast facilities.
Standing on a dirt patch that will eventually be the goalsquare of the AFLW training oval, Hawthorn CEO Justin Reeves stressed that the Kennedy Community Centre will provide an equal training environment for both the men's and women's programs before stating that the facility will be the envy of the competition.
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"When we moved in some years ago, Waverley was a state-of-the-art facility. Now we're a very different football club. We have a men's team, we have a women's team, we have community programs that we run. Waverley simply can't fit that all in. This gives us the space and the time and everything we want to deliver in a state-of-the-art facility. This is a gamechanger for us," Reeves said on Thursday.
"The beautiful thing about it is it's been a long-term project. We've been able to look all around the world, we've been able to look domestically about what is best practice. There's things within this facility that haven't been seen before, there's things that are very common usage but the best possible quality. Everything that we do and everything that we need, we look at how we can deliver it in the best possible manner."
The announcement arrives 24 hours after the club released its financial result for 2022 that netted an operating surplus of $35.1 million following the sale of two venues on the back of Hawthorn's decision to exit the gaming industry.
The decision to sell WestWaters in Caroline Springs and The Gardens at Waverley Gardens resulted in $32 million for the club, with at least half expected to be used to fund the Kennedy Community Centre.
Hawthorn is still hopeful of securing an additional $15 million from the state government to complete the entire project in Dingley, although that contribution won't impact the club's elite facility.
"Our team has worked really closely with the government and the government departments over a long period of time. They're partners in this project; that money has been allocated but hasn't been released," Reeves said.
"We hope that it gets released in the short-term because to deliver the 100 per cent of the community facilities we need that money. To deliver 100 per cent of the Hawthorn facilities, we don't need that money, but we do need it to deliver exactly what the community facilities need to be.
"The government have been very, very supportive. We will continue to work with them to get the best outcome."
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The financial result and the announcement of the Dingley project couldn't be timed any better for president-elect Peter Nankivell ahead of Hawthorn's annual general meeting on December 13.
Nankivell, who is Hawthorn's vice-president and has been nominated by the board as Jeff Kennett's successor, is facing a presidential battle from 1991 premiership player Andy Gowers.
Voting for Hawthorn's next president opens tomorrow and closes on December 9.
