The Hawks hope the new Russell Square wicket will be open for play after Christmas.

Hawks’ committee member Jeremy Collier said this was a 20-year club vision now becoming a reality.

A turf wicket will allow the Hawks’ premier teams to play at home, rather than at an adopted base at East Secondary College, with full access to the clubrooms, new changerooms and canteen.

Importantly, the club can host home games, including juniors, all in the one precinct.

“We’ve allowed six weeks from start to finish for the project but weather will be a major factor,” Collier said.

“Maybe we’ll get to play the first game there after Christmas but we’ve waited this long and we’re prepared to wait until it’s completely ready.

“It’ll give us options to train on turf ... it may also open up the possibility for our juniors to play a game or two on turf.”

Works on the new wicket come amid the building of new changerooms at the precinct and new netball courts for co-tenant East Ballarat Junior Football Netball Club.

Collier said the turf wicket installation had relied heavily on the support of the City of Ballarat and Sport and Recreation Department, and co-operation of fellow Russell Square user groups such as North United Soccer Club, Ballarat touch rugby and East Ballarat Junior Football Club – particularly due to the impact on other codes’ grounds.

The new turf wicket table will feature five pitches, compared with four the Hawks accessed at East Secondary.