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A community hub will be developed at the Yarrawonga Showgrounds after $388,000 in funding for the project was announced on Friday by Tim McCurdy, Member for Murray Valley.

Mr McCurdy said the project would create a multi-faceted community precinct.

“Today marks the first day of a project that will create an important community hub and transform these facilities into some of the best in regional Victoria,” Mr McCurdy said.

“By constructing a new community building – to include a commercial kitchen, flexible meeting spaces and facilities to cater for up to 50 people, Yarrawonga will be able to support important local events and activities for many years to come.”

As part of the project existing facilities will be redeveloped to meet modern standards and improve accessibility for people with mobility problems and children in prams.

An upgrade of the JA Thom Pavilion will provide a flexible covered area for community events, such as the Rotary market and as a sheep pavilion through use of portable pens, for the agricultural society.

Refurbishment and extension of the former gun club and construction of a storage facility near the existing table tennis pavilion will also occur. The project will be auspiced by the Moira Shire Council.

The Rotary Club of Yarrawonga Mulwala and other community contributions have totalled more than $100,000 with $10,000 in kind from Moira Shire Council.

“I would like to commend everyone involved in fundraising efforts for their dedication to this project and their community. In these tough economic times, the community’s effort to raise such a huge sum of money proves how important this redevelopment is to local people,” Mr McCurdy said.

“It is only fitting that the Victorian Government has responded with its own funding contribution of $278,000.

“This funding has come from the Putting Locals First program – a component of the $1 billion Regional Growth Fund, which was created to support just this kind of initiative.

“By supporting regional communities to devise and deliver service and infrastructure responses that reflect local priorities we can contribute to a better quality of life for all regional Victorians.”

Cr Peter Mansfield praised the local community for its commitment to the project, especially members of the Section 86 committee and said the community was fortunate to have such a facility and it will bring even greater benefits in the future.

Doug Evans, from Yarrawonga Mulwala Rotary Club which donated $80,000 to the project, thanked Mr McCurdy and the state government as well as the Moira Shire, in particular grants officer Lee Fraser for guiding the project.

“We have been working on this project for five years and this facility will benefit the community well into the future,” Mr Evans said.

Jan Parker, Section 86 committee of management president, praised everyone involved, in particular the Rotary Club. “Without them we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get the project started,” she said.

“I also want to thank Lee Fraser. It was his inspiration to do this as a combined project which brought all the user groups together and which ultimately played a major role in securing the funding.”