The Hangar

The Hangar is the training facility and headquarters of professional Australian rules football club Essendon Football Club.[1] It is located in the Melbourne suburb Melbourne Airport and was opened in 2013.[2]

For the home stadium of the Lancaster JetHawks, see Hangar (Lancaster, California).

History

Essendon began planning on moving its primary training and administrative facilities to a larger and more spacious facility near Melbourne Airport in May 2011. The club received $6 million in support from the Federal Government and sought a similar amount from the State Government. With the total cost of the proposed project expected to be around $30 million, the club considered petitioning the Australian Football League (AFL) and club members for the remaining funding.[3] For almost 90 years, Essendon had been based at Windy Hill Oval in the suburb of Essendon, though by 2010 the club had outgrown the restricted space and so signed an agreement with airport authorities to utilise the vacant land for a training facility.[4] The club ultimately raised $14 million towards the project in conjunction with the Australian Paralympic Committee, and received $4.75 million from the AFL and $1.8 million from the State Government.[5] The facility opened in November 2013.[5]

The facility doubles as the Victorian offices and training precinct of Paralympics Australia, which secured $4 million in federal funding in early 2019 to assist in the construction of the Community, Education and Events Centre at the site.[6] The facilities in use since opening include large locker rooms for players, an indoor aquatic centre, a running track, a gymnasium, medical and administration offices, and two football ovals, one the size of the MCG and the other the size of Docklands Stadium.[5][7] The venue's most obvious facility is the 60-metre long, 40-metre wide indoor training hall, commonly utilised by players for warm-up and warm-down procedures.[7]

Naming

For several years after opening the venue was simply known as the High Performance Centre, or by the sponsored name True Value Solar Centre. In December 2017, the Essendon Football Club unveiled the new name of the facility; The Hangar. The club's members were given the opportunity to decide the name via an online vote on the club website and chose The Hangar by a clear margin.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Welcome to The Hangar". Essendon Football Club. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  2. "Bombers settle into new hangar". The Age. Nine Entertainment Co. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  3. "Essendon seeks $15 million to help build new Melbourne Airport home". Australasian Leisure Management. 17 May 2011.
  4. "Bombers take flight to Airport sight". Racing and Sports. 16 December 2010. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014.
  5. "Bombers take off at new High Performance Centre". Australasian Leisure Management. 19 November 2013.
  6. "Paralympics Australia, The Hangar receive boost". Essendon FC. 6 February 2019.
  7. "Essendon unveils new training facility". The Age. 19 November 2013.
  8. "Welcome to The Hangar". Essendon FC. 7 December 2017.

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