Beale Park upgrades: Home of Cockburn City Soccer Club set to get new clubhouse with two function rooms
Long-awaited upgrades to Beale Park in Spearwood are drawing closer after the City of Cockburn revealed plans for a modern clubhouse with significantly more changerooms to replace the current rundown building.
The city is working with a $20 million budget, including a $1m grant from the State Government, to demolish and rebuild the home of the Cockburn City Soccer Club.
Detailed designs for the Beale Park clubhouse overhaul were made public this week, showing two function rooms, six changerooms, 18 showers and ample storage space.
The building is just part of a precinct overhaul that will include re-orienting the playing field and upgraded lighting.
The city started planning for improvements in 2018 but a previous design received a lot of negative feedback, particularly about tree retention.
Rebuilding at a location further south rather than revamping or simply replacing the original building will result in the loss of less cockatoo roosting trees, according to a report by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Six trees face the axe under the current plan, but the City of Cockburn says it will plant an additional 35 to maintain shade levels at the park.
WA Tree Canopy Ambassador Sabrina Hahn told PerthNow the attitude of people and councils towards tree protection was vastly different to the past.
“People now understand how important it is to retain our old trees not just for tree canopy but actually for all the species that we have that are reliant on those old trees for nesting and for food,” she said.
“So to hear about this project, it’s wonderful that people look at an alternative because in the past trees had no value whatsoever, so if they were in the way nothing was changed in the design, the trees had to go.
“This project shows that it is actually possible to have buildings and to have infrastructure but to maintain those trees.”
Construction at Beale Park could begin later this year and be completed in time for the 2027 soccer season, if the latest design is approved by the Metro Inner Development Assessment Panel.
