Construction on the $24 million upgrade of Regatta Park is set to begin shortly with the first stage of construction to include the permanent closure of the eastern car park, closest to the Nepean River.
The car park is closing from early July to enable work to start on the first stage of the upgrade which will include transforming the eastern riverbank from River Road to the river foreshore, also known as River Road Reserve. This section of the riverbank and access to the Nepean River from Regatta Park will also temporarily close from early July until the end of November 2021.
The first stage includes delivering a 112-metre pavilion with undercover play space and water features, a new amenity building, an accessible pathway down to the river foreshore and several over-water viewing platforms. An adult change facility as an extension to the amenities block on the western side of Regatta Park is also being delivered.
Penrith Mayor Karen McKeown OAM said a key feature of the upgrade is the delivery of a new car park which will increase the number of parking spaces at Regatta Park.
"A centralised car park, with overflow parking and on-street parking is being delivered as part of the upgrade to Regatta Park. When complete this will provide an increase in parking to service the community accessing the transformed Regatta Park," Cr McKeown said.
"Although the eastern car park is closing there is alternative parking in the western car park at Regatta Park and parking on the other side of the river along Tench Avenue, and in the Tench Reserve car park. On weekends the nearby Emu Plains commuter car park is also an option.
"The good news is that the Great River Walk will remain open during this time, and there's never been a better time to get outside, enjoy the beautiful weather and watch the transformation of Regatta Park coming to life over the next few weeks.
"It's incredibly exciting to see this city-shaping project get underway. The delivery of Regatta Park will create a new focal point for nature, leisure and recreation in Western Sydney and a valuable local asset for current and future residents."
The Regatta Park upgrade is being jointly funded with $9 million from Penrith City Council and $15 million from the Australian and NSW Governments as part of the Western Sydney City Deal's Western Parkland City Liveability Program.
Key milestones for the project include the start of construction in July 2021; the delivery of accessible paths along the foreshore in November 2021 with the project set to be complete in December 2022.
More information can be found at penrith.city/regattapark
Image caption: The eastern riverbank at Regatta Park is set to be transformed as the first stage of the $24 million upgrade gets underway in July.
