Construction to begin soon on Deans Marsh Festival Stand

WORK is expected to begin soon on the Deans Marsh Festival Stand at Memorial Oval with plans for the stand presently being finalised with the Surf Coast Shire council.

The stand will serve various community groups, including Deans Marsh Cricket Club, Deans Marsh Community Cottage, Deans Marsh Primary School, Music at the Marsh, and the Deans Marsh Sheep Dog Trials.

The Festival Stand’s 11-member working group, made of a range of people representing the community’s diverse interests, is now seeking quotes before choosing a builder to begin construction.

Working group member and Deans Marsh Cricket Club secretary Brendan Brown said they had already shortlisted some options.

“We have a couple of really great local builders who are interested in the job, so we’re hopeful we can use local expertise and put money back into the community,” Mr Brown said.

The design was created by RT Architects through extensive consultation with the working group.

Mr Brown said Ryan Thompson had done a great job of listening to the needs of the community and the stand’s various potential user groups.

“When we met with him, he was very responsive to our local area and seemed to be a really good fit.

“We’re all really delighted with it, which is saying something because he’s managed to keep everybody happy”

Mr Thompson said he designed the stand to suit the community’s character as well as its needs.

“The Deans Marsh Festival Stand is a place for community celebration and the building is designed to create a bit of drama reflecting the performance within.

“Symbolically centric rings radiate out to welcome all into our community which is reinforced by the universal access design. The enclosing woodland windbreak protects the ceremony within, via an informal timber screen shaped of halved bush poles.

“A symbolic woodland, some to be carved by skilled locals and fashioned reflective of Deans Marsh and surround’s vibrant arts scene, local bushland and magnificent Otways, or to just to be weaved around and hidden behind.”

Working financial controller Jane Whitehead said she was pleased with how the project was developing.

“I am so proud to be part of the festival stand committee, helping bring our community a welcoming space to share, observe and participate in.”

The $125,000 project has been fully funded through from the federal government’s Community Development Grants Program.

The Community Development Grants Program requires the stand to be complete by the end of June 2021.