State Government announces $3.2 million additional funding to build Dawesville Community Centre

The State Government has doubled its contribution to replace a Dawesville community centre likened to a “horror movie set”.

It will deliver an extra $3.2 million to the project, after previously committing $3m through the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

Lotterywest is contributing $1.4m.

The multi-purpose community centre is proposed to include a main hall with stage, store rooms, universally accessible toilet, kitchen, office space, meeting room with sound insulation, along with landscaping and a play area.

Mandurah councillors approved a tender in December for Geared Construction to build the facility, and allocated an additional $100,000 for battery storage to make the centre environmentally friendly.

Cr Bob Pond said at the December meeting he wanted to “stress the importance” of the centre being built and likened the current community facility in Dawesville, the Southern Estuary Hall, to being “probably more suited to a horror movie set”.

The State Government commitment made last week just scraped through to meet the City of Mandurah’s imposed deadline, with the council awarding the tender on the condition the State agreed to providing the funds by February 4.

Regional Development Minister Don Punch said the funding would deliver an “important facility to the Dawesville community”

“Dawesville is expected to double in size over the next decade, so this multi-purpose centre will become an important asset for the growing population,” he said.

The new centre will be at the corner of Dandaragan Drive and Woodstock Avenue and will have a total footprint of about 1200sqm.

It has been designed with a focus on sustainability and achieving a five-star Green Star rating, a rating system created by the Green Building Council of Australia.

Completion of the centre is expected 15 months from the contract being signed.