| Stadium Name: | Kennedy Community Centre |
| Broke Ground: | 2024 |
| Opened: | 2025 |
| Owner: | Hawthorn Football Club |
| Operator: | Hawthorn Football Club |
| Surface: | Grass |
| Architect: | Peddle Thorp Architects[1] |
| Tenants: | Hawthorn Football Club Administration & Training (2025–present) |
The Kennedy Community Centre is the future training facility and headquarters of Australian rules football club the Hawthorn Football Club. It is located in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Dingley Village in the City of Kingston and is set to open in 2025.[2]
Upon completion, the complex will contain Hawthorn's headquarters and community facilities across 28 hectares, including an MCG-sized training oval and elite aquatic and gym facilities for the Hawks men's and women's teams, such as a gymnasium, an indoor training facility and wet and dry recovery facilities. The main oval would host home games for the Hawthorn AFLW team, as well as VFL and community matches, with the main oval serviced by a dedicated match day pavilion with a 500-seat grandstand, team change rooms, umpire change rooms, media facilities, coaches’ boxes and a function space.[3] Upon completion, the facility will be made available for community use at least 20 hours per week.[4]
In 2015, Hawthorn revealed well-advanced plans to move its headquarters from Waverley Park to a large new facility where it has signed a contract of purchase for a 28hectare site in Dingley where the club intends to build a lavish new headquarters for players, administration and supporters modelled on English Premier League clubs Arsenal F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur F.C..[5] [6] This came after a three-year study into the Waverley Park site concluded it was rapidly falling below the AFL benchmark.[7] Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold said "We want an elite training facility and administration facility, to align with our values of being a destination club. That's one bucket. The next is if you've got 80,000 members, how do you engage with them? We think this facility can tick that box."[8] A former landfill site, the land was purchased by the Hawthorn Football Club in 2016 for $7.75 million, with the facility estimate to cost $100 million.[9] [10] In May 2016, the Kingston City Council approved a Notice of Decision for a planning permit and a planning scheme amendment for the Kennedy Community Centre's site, which allows for the subdivision of land and creation of a 27.9 hectare lot to be developed and used by the Hawks.[11]
Hawthorn received approval to commence construction on the facility in November 2022, with the club signing a construction contract with ADCO Constructions the same month.[12] The first sod was turned in February 2024, with Hawthorn President Andy Gowers, CEO Ash Klein, Senior Coach Sam Mitchell, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, along with state and local representatives present on the occasion.[13] [14] The construction of the Kennedy Community Centre will be undertaken in stages, with Stage 1 to consist of the construction of a community pavilion and AFLW oval featuring full broadcast capabilities and grandstand seating, and the Harris Elite Training and Administration Facility, comprising an indoor training field, high-performance gym and aquatic facilities and an MCG-sized oval. When completed, Hawthorn will be the only team to own its own facility and the land on which it is situated, with the club set to move into the facility in the second half of 2025.[15] [16]
The construction of the Kennedy Community Centre is funded through a combination of $73 million from the Hawthorn Football Club, $15 million from the Australian federal government, $15 million from the Victorian state government, $5 million from the Kingston City Council and $5 million from the Australian Football League.[17]
The Kennedy Community Centre will feature the following facilities:[18] [19] [20]
The site is named after former Hawthorn player and head coach John Kennedy Sr.[21] [22] The statute of John Kennedy at Waverley Park will be moved to the entry of the Kennedy Community Centre once the facility is complete.[23]