Cockburn ARC has won a prestigious Institute of Public Administration Australia (WA) Gold achievement award, over a host of other deserving nominees, including Perth’s new Optus Stadium.
The City of Cockburn is joint winner of the Gold Award for Best Practice in the Collaboration Between Government and Non-Government Organisations category of the 2018 Achievement Awards, sharing the honour with Fremantle Football Club and Curtin University.
It is the second award in two weeks bestowed upon the ARC; it won the Parks and Leisure Australia (WA) Community Facility of the Year Award, and will now represent WA on the national stage with winners announced in Melbourne on 16 October.
The City, the football club and the university developed the $109m Cockburn ARC facility in a unique collaborative partnership that has employed leading edge technology.
This enabled the partnership to leverage funding support from the WA and Commonwealth governments to create an industry first, cutting edge, integrated aquatic, recreation, education and elite athlete training facility for the community.
Opened in May 2017, the centre has recorded more than 1.2 million visitors, exceeding year four projections in a 2014 feasibility study into establishing the centre which services a regional population of more than 207,000 people.
City of Cockburn Mayor Logan Howlett said Cockburn ARC continued to fulfil its mission to make more people, more active, more often, improving the health and wellbeing outcomes for Cockburn’s rapidly growing local population.
Curtin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said the Curtin exercise program at Cockburn ARC provided a community service while educating third-year Bachelor of Exercise Science students within an industry setting.
“The program aims to give clients the knowledge and confidence they need to engage in physical activity and develop life-long habits that will improve their health, and I am delighted that this important partnership has been recognised with this award,” Professor Terry said.
Fremantle Football Club CEO Steve Rosich said the Fremantle Dockers were delighted to be part of the award-winning project.
“It was the strong partnership with the City of Cockburn and Curtin University that enabled the delivery of this world class facility and we are thrilled to be recognised alongside them.”
Cockburn ARC was also a finalist in the 2018 WA Australian Architecture Awards in the Public Architecture category announced on 29 June, and is in the running for a State Government Sport and Recreation Industries Award due to be announced on 8 August.
Past ARC Awards:
2017 – Won the Local Government category of the Australasian Leisure Management Communication and Marketing Awards.
2017 – Named Best Public Use Building over $20m when builder Multiplex won the 2017 Master Builders Bankwest Excellence in Construction Award for the recreation and aquatic centre.
Pic Caption: L-R Cockburn ARC Manager Brett McEwin, Fremantle Football Club CEO Steve Rosich, Cockburn Mayor Logan Howlett and Curtin University Practicum Coordinator at Cockburn ARC Tom Kimmet with the IPAA WA Gold Award.