By Alesha Capone
Wyndham council has awarded a $2.9 million contract to fix the leaking roof at Eagle Stadium, which will involve a new roof being constructed over the existing one.
The $47 million stadium in Werribee had been plagued by a leaking roof since it was built about five years ago, forcing the cancellation of sports games on days of heavy rainfall.
Professional Plumbing Contractors Pty Ltd will begin working on the new roof in May, with construction expected to finish in April 2022, subject to COVID-19 restrictions.
Cr Marcel Mahfoud said that although it sounded “silly” to build a new roof over the stadium’s old one, “at least finally once and for all, when it rains now these courts won’t be flooded”.
He said the leaking roof “has caused disruption to many games and some great angst in the sporting community who use the centre”.
Cr Peter Maynard said the new roof should permanently fix the leaks at Eagle Stadium although “it should have been built correctly in the first place”.
“This council has incurred costs to rectify something that shouldn’t have occurred in the first place and will be doing its utmost to ensure that those costs are recouped by council on behalf of residents,” Cr Maynard said.
A statement issued by the council said the construction works would not impact upon Eagle Stadium being used as a COVID vaccination hub.
The statement also said the council would work with Western Leisure Services to minimise any impacts on stadium users.
Wyndham’s director of city operations, Stephen Thorpe, said: “Once council is in a position to properly quantify and assess the extent of its costs and losses associated with fixing the leaking roof and drainage issues, the appropriate formal legal recovery processes will be undertaken.”
Mr Thorpe said the council would like to thank the community for their patience while the process to fix the stadium’s roof was worked through.
“We know this has been a frustrating process for the community, and limiting further interruptions remains a key concern while our contractor works to repair the roof,” he said.
Details: www.wyndham.vic.gov.au/venues/eagle-stadium
