St Peter's College's plans to open up to the Broulee community given a $6 million boost

College principal Darren McPartland watched from a distance after work. The sight of athletes using the school's facilities was delightful.

"We could do more than that," he said to himself.

"These school facilities need to be more than a school."

That was the moment an idea was born: to create an after-hours community sporting hub on the school's land on Train St, Broulee.

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That vision received a massive boost this week after the college was awarded $6,157,847 as part of the federal government's Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants program. It was awarded the most of any project in the Eurobodalla.

Mr McPartland wants the centre to become a place where local kids can play indoor sports and be entertained.

"In Broulee, there's not a lot of recreational facilities for the kids," he said. "There could be; kids would use it."

The planned hub includes a gymnasium with two basketball courts, change rooms and a front office, replacing the front office the school lost during the bushfires.

Mr McPartland said he wanted the facility to be used for indoor soccer, volleyball, netball, basketball and sport camps during the holidays. He said the wall could be lined with climbing holds and transformed into an indoor rock climbing centre.

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"Volleyball - the kids really love it - but you need an indoor space," he said. "We'd love to have a volleyball club."

"The school benefits by using it during the day - after hours it becomes a community sporting hub.

"In the evenings, clubs can train there when it's raining.

"We want it to be open to the community. We are trying to open all our facilities up to the community."

The design process remains in the preliminary stages, but with these additional funds secured, Mr McPartland hopes building will be underway by the end of 2022, with the facility opening in 2023.