Unley Oval Upgrade Works
Upgrade completion
The lighting upgrade was completed in October 2023 with new LED lighting installed.
Works associated with drainage, irrigation and new turf were completed in January 2024.
Establishment of the new turf surface followed, and the entire project was completed on schedule in April 2024.
A Community Open Day on Saturday 4 May 2024 marked the Oval's official reopening, as residents from our community joined us in celebrating this milestone.
Why the work benefits everyone
Unley Oval is considered by many to be Council’s premier open space asset. It is well-used and much loved by residents and visitors for a range of recreational purposes, with community and sporting events also held on this highly regarded site.
As part of the improvement works, sub-surface drainage and irrigation was installed, the first time this occurred at any sporting facility in our city, providing a quality playing surface for elite-level sport in all seasons, safer for players and easier for Council to maintain in all weather conditions.
The resurfacing project was a significant achievement in the timeframe involved, realised through productive, effective partnerships established with project contractors Belair Turf Management, lead consultants Living Turf, and Greenhill, who oversaw all works throughout the seven months of the schedule.
The extent of the work involved over that timeframe was a major undertaking and can be fully appreciated in the short video here, which compresses all those efforts into an action-packed two minutes, from lighting install to our Community Open Day.
The upgrades were part of Council’s ongoing commitment to providing a premier, high-quality open space facility for Unley, ensuring it continues to be fit-for-purpose for our residents and the wider community, the Sturt Football Club, and other sporting clubs.
The improvement to this iconic facility is a generational project. The Oval 's playing field has never been redeveloped in this manner, and the end result now ushers in a new era for this magnificent venue, which will continue to be enjoyed by future generations.
Council is proud of the outcome and recognises the work of the Unley project team, under the leadership and guidance of Council, who also contributed so much to make the project a reality and deliver such an outstanding result for our city.
Our Council is also grateful to the South Australia government's Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing, who supported the final phase of the redevelopment project with grant funding of $635,000.
A brief history of the process
The scope of the lighting project was to remove all existing metal halide lights and install new LED fittings, and these upgrade works were completed in early October 2023. All existing infrastructure was retained and used for the new lights.
The Sturt Football Club requested an increase in existing lighting levels from 100lux to 150lux to comply with SANFL training requirements, with the club meeting costs to increase lighting levels. This request was supported by Council, which accepted Sturt's offer to pay additional costs. The requested 150lux does not enable the hosting of night matches at the Oval, which requires a lighting level greater than 500lux.
The scope of the playing surface project involved removal of the entire turf surface, which in recent years had been challenging for Council to maintain. This aspect of the upgrade provided drainage, irrigation, new turf and four cricket pitches.
The new turf surface considered the usage of the Oval and was constructed to meet the objectives of the community and all the sporting clubs which call Unley Oval home.
The phased delivery of the works was subject to weather conditions and was expected to be completed in early April 2024. A significant rain event in November 2023 caused significant damage to work which had been completed at the time. Despite those temporary setbacks, it was a real achievement when all works were finished only three weeks behind the original schedule, testament to the skill and dedication of our project partners who worked tirelessly to ensure delays were minimised.
Thank you and congratulations to everyone involved in this landmark project.