Although the city of Yarra has officially opened the redevelopment of Victoria Park project, people still have mixed feelings.

A number of Collingwood supporters have welcomed the project saying they are happy that the Collingwood Football Club are “finally coming back home, where they belong” and are pleased for the redevelopment project to go ahead.

They believe that it would benefit both the local community, by way of accessibility to the facilities and the Collingwood Football Club because they will be allowed to play their Victorian Football League side home games there.

Some of the more senior diehard supporters are pessimistic about the proposal because the Sherrin and Rush Stands, which have nostalgic and historical heritage, may be altered drastically or even bulldozed. However, a senior older member of the Magpies supporter base said that he is satisfied with the project and prefers the Collingwood Football Club play for premiership points back in Victoria Park. He also mentioned he’s a realist and knows that the future of the ground is in the hands of the people with money, which are the council and the local community living around the ground. Supporters included in their comments that some of the older stands should be refurbished and improved for future supporters to watch the Victoria Football League side play their home games.

The last game played by the Collingwood Football Club at Victoria Park was in August 28, 1999, then they moved to the Lexus Centre, where they have been training ever since. Older, more experienced supporters didn’t like the concept of the move to this venue, as it does not have the feel of home, it has no history and is lacking Footballing heritage. Younger supporters on the other hand liked the move because of the modern facilities and state-of-the art amenities. These are two contrasting views, but both agree that the redevelopment project is a fantastic idea. The supporters felt that the move from Victoria Park to the Lexus Centre was inevitable because “in the end, the football club’s hand was forced to move due to indifference and conflict with the council.”

The council have budgeted 1.8 million dollars for this financial year for this project and will apply for state and federal grants. Mayor Amanda Stone said in the opening ceremony that “future tenants of the social club will be asking to contribute to the overall cost. The project will take ten years to complete and anyone, including the Collingwood Football Club, can apply to use the ground through selection criteria that will be use for everybody”.

Fifty-three people, including council officials, Magpie supporters and the media, attended the opening but there were no Collingwood Football Club representatives on the official day of announcement. The Fitzroy All Stars, an indigenous team of footballers and the current tenant of the ground, had players and their coach, Alan Brown, also present on the day. They sympathise with some of the Collingwood supporters that are opposed to some aspects of the project because of nostalgic reasons, but said it’s “time to move on.”

Brown and his players stated that the indigenous community is looking forward to being involved in the project. They said that the development looks impressive. The community would also like to contribute ideas on how the ground would look like and Brown said that if people’s expectations are not met by the redevelopment project, simply approach the council, keep the discussions internal and “have a yarn.”