By Jackson Russell
Wallan Primary School will receive $6.738 million to upgrade its gym, as part of the State Budget.
The upgrade will bring the gym to competition grade and repair a facility that is unusable, especially in wet weather, due to leaks in its roof.
The investment is part of the State Government’s $1.18 billion Building Works Package announced earlier this year, which is estimated to create space for 21,000 additional students and create 1600 construction jobs across the state.
Member for Yan Yean Danielle Green visited the school on Thursday to surprise principal Ann Stevens and school captains Zac and Angelyn with the announcement.
Ms Green said the upgrade would make sure Wallan children received a great education and create new work for contractors engaged to complete construction.
“Families in Wallan have done a phenomenal job in supporting students to learn from home. As kids return to their classrooms, we want to make Wallan Primary School better than before,” she said.
Ms Stevens said the announcement came as a surprise.
“Danielle did come across last year and had a look at the facilities because one of my concerns was the roof leaks and holes in the roof, so we looked around the facilities and we were talking about a stadium but it was just a chat so this is a surprise,” she said.
“The roof’s not compliant, so there are all these issues that we’ve had with leaks and flooding for years… if it rains, it floods. It’s not just a drip, it’s unusable and dangerous.
“We use it for PE inside, we run all our assemblies inside, our before and after program runs out of the space, so it has an impact across the school whenever it’s not usable.
“It’s not something I put in a grant application for so I’m very excited.”
Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes said every student deserved the chance to be active and healthy.
“This investment is about providing Wallan kids with the opportunity to participate in sport, all year round, in their new gym,” she said.
