Plans Resubmitted for $50m Sports Institute

South Australia’s Department of Infrastructure and Transport has resubmitted plans for a $50-million headquarters for the South Australian Sports Institute in Adelaide’s inner west.

The three-storey project, planned for an 8.6ha Kidman Park site at 145 Railway Terrace in Mile End, has now been lodged with PlanSA after being before the West Torrens City Council for the past year.

If approved, the 5-Star Green Building would provide more than 400 high-performance athletes with access to state-of-the-art training facilities and integrated technologies.

The headquarters would have a strength and conditioning gym capable of accommodating multiple sports and teams.

It would also have sport specific ergometer training zones, indoor bounding areas and environment chambers for heat, humidity and altitude stress training.

It will also include offices, a multi-use court, lecture theatres, physiotherapy rooms, gyms, recovery pools and saunas, and a cafe.

South Australia sport minister Corey Wingard said the new facility would provide high-performance athletes with access to state-of-the-art training facilities and leading-edge integrated technologies.

“The South Australian Sports Institute was Australia’s first state-based sports institute but has never had its own purpose-designed facility that is fit-for-purpose and for the past 21 years has operated out of the old Kidman Park High School,” Wingard said.

“Despite that, South Australia has developed and produced some of the best athletes in the world and this investment will help build on that legacy.”

▲ Artist impressions of the proposed South Australian Sports Institute headquarters. Image: Cox Architecture

For the past two decades South Australian Sports Institute has operated out of the former Kidman Park High School site and athletics track.

The existing facility has been labelled as “outdated” and in “poor condition” limiting the South Australian Sports Institute from “delivering world-class high-performance training”.

The state government has since allocated $50 million towards constructing a new facility. The new headquarters would create about 200 jobs during construction, which is expected to start next year and be completed by mid-2024.

Landscaping works have already commenced within the Mile End Sports Precinct by the Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing. 

The Cox Architecture-designed development would involve 140 trees removed to be supplemented by 160 new tree plantings and additional shrubs.

Meanwhile, plans for a new $700-million indoor stadium on the western side of the Morphett Street bridge are still being floated.

The stadium will have a capacity of 15,000 spectators, and house concerts, conventions and other events, as well as basketball and netball games.

The state government plans to sell off the Adelaide Entertainment Centre to developers to help pay for the new stadium.

The projects come as many cities across Australia look to generate more investment into sports science as well as commercial and residential real estate in the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.