A SUPER Netball practice match in Bendigo has given the indoor sports alliance behind Ballarat's new indoor stadium plenty of motivation. The pre-season bout between Collingwood Magpies and Queensland Firebirds last weekend drew 2500 fans - the kind of crowd and matches officials hope Ballarat Sports and Events Centre will attract.
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BSEC construction is 70 per cent complete and City of Ballarat officers confirm the project is on schedule for a mid-year completion.
Attracting much interest from passers-by at the growing exterior, inside the stadium is shaping up to international standards for hosting netball and basketball with soaring ceilings suited to sports like volleyball.
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The showcourt arena will house three courts and retractable seating from either side for 2700 fans. A permanent tiered structure, able to seat about 300 people completes a three-sided, surround-sound potential atmosphere, while straight ahead on the opposite wall is space for big-screen replays, scoring and advertisements.
Flooring will be laid in the showcourt arena once cladding is complete. Community courts, on the BSEC's east side, are in their final stages with flooring underway. Each board is precisely hand-placed.
Lighter floorboards and more windows creates an airier space for the three courts. Design has made the courts naturally cooler in what has been a hot finish to summer.
Flooring is proceeding on schedule, despite earlier concerns for leaking which have been resolved.
Structural elements to the stadium are complete with roofing and cladding almost finished.
Four community change facilities are fitted out with skeletons to the elite teams' change rooms and briefing space.
Works underway are for the $24 million stage one construction. A further $5 million secured in last year's state election will provide for four three-on-three outdoor basketball courts out the front, a community and elite gym between the existing and new stadium structures and new skin to revamp the existing stadium exterior.
Workers have spent more than 40,445 hours on site during the construction phase of this project.
Ballarat Miners and Rush basketball teams are expected to move into the stadium for the 2020 NBL1 season and play out the season ahead at the Minerdome.
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