Winchelsea Memorial Grandstand Upgrade Project

  • Project typeVictorian Veterans Capital Works Program
  • Project value$60,000
  • Completion Date31 October 2025
2024 Grandstand view from Hopkins St.jpg

Information updated August 2025

Upgrading of the heritage-listed Soldiers Memorial Grandstand at Eastern Reserve is scheduled to start during the week of 18 August.

The building has provided a home for Winchelsea RSL Sub-branch members for close to 100 years and the renovation project is of great importance to veterans, members, their families and the wider community.

Work will include:

  • Construction of a new entry ramp to improve safety and accessibility
  • Expansion of library, museum and work spaces
  • Opening of an internal wall connecting two ground floor rooms
  • Repairs to windows and doors
  • Internal and external painting, and
  • Installation of downlighting which will highlight the building façade.

Work is expected to take up to eight weeks and an official opening is expected to be late in October.

RSL members will be joined by community on 13 September for a celebration acknowledging a century of RSL use of rooms within the memorial grandstand.

The upgrading project is being jointly funded, with a contribution of $49,728 from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing via the Victorian Veterans Capital Works Program 2023-2024, and a $10,000 in-kind contribution from the RSL Sub-branch.

Council is managing the project in collaboration with the sub-branch and contributing $37,000.

The Winchelsea and District Soldiers Memorial 1914-1918 grandstand within Winchelsea’s Eastern Reserve, was constructed in 1923 as a functional memorial to soldiers who served Australia during World War One.

Added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 2005, it is claimed to be the most substantial public building in Australia built using the nationally significant ‘knitlock’ construction method designed and patented by architect Walter Burley Griffin in 1917.

The Winchelsea RSL Sub Branch was formed in 1919 and has been associated with the Victorian RSL since that time. It currently has 26 dedicated members. The foundational RSL Winchelsea Sub Branch worked with the then Winchelsea Shire Council, Eastern Reserve Committee and the ladies auxiliary of the sub branch to plan, fund and build the grandstand.

Within the grandstand are the RSL’s meeting rooms, a museum containing local, district and regional service memorabilia, artefacts and collections and information and samples of the ‘knitlock’ construction method.

Winchelsea RSL has continued to support local causes and charities, focusing primarily on veterans’ issues, soldier settlement and housing and widow support. The sub-branchg also plans and delivers many local commemorative events and supports events conducted in nearby communities.

Location

35 Hopkins Street, Winchelsea 3241  View Map

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