Brothers Leagues Club have unveiled plans for a multimillion-dollar transformation to Stan Williams Park \u2013 the iconic sporting facility that has served as home ground to generations of young gun Cairns footballers.<\/p>\n
Brothers Leagues Club has received a trustee lease over its rugby league fields at Stan Williams Park in Manunda \u2013 a crucial step in its grand vision to overhaul the facility.<\/p>\n
Club president Stephen Widt revealed plans for the $12m upgrade which proposes a drastically improved grandstand and new storey to top the existing pavilion.<\/p>\n
The new top floor will have a public bar, offices and spectator viewing areas upstairs, as well as new changing rooms, gyms and other sporting facilities downstairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be open \u2013 we don\u2019t want it to have corporate boxes,\u201d Mr Widt said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt lends itself very much to great viewing of rugby league.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a mix between a big stadium but still very much a local football set-up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The main grandstand will have seating for 517 spectators, plus a downstairs kitchen and bar area with tables and an upstairs undercover area with 492sq\u2009m of seated viewing.<\/p>\n
Funding applications have been lodged with the federal government on a 50:50 deal where Brothers Leagues Club will meet half the costs.<\/p>\n
The upgrade will boost the facility to a state league level, as per the NRL\u2019s stringent codes \u2013 but Mr Widt said it was not a competitor to the city\u2019s dream of a proper national-level stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Brothers Leagues Club making sure our facilities are here for what we want to do in the general community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not the answer to a rectangular stadium for the area.\u201d<\/p>\n
It should help attract high-level female participation in the sport, and allow the club to ramp up its engagement with Indigenous and all-abilities players.<\/p>\n
Brothers was the first club in Cairns to run an all-abilities match at a home game last year, and club officers work with disabled children every Wednesday and Friday.<\/p>\n
Other organisations will also have access \u2013 the Manunda fields were used for school trial games just this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to build it up as a larger sporting facility for people to use,\u201d Mr Widt said.<\/p>\n
Brothers will assume all maintenance and utilities costs for the facility under the terms of the trustee lease, expected to be about $400,000 per year once the upgrades are completed.<\/p>\n