North Wollongong surf club, seawall projects to cost $10.5m

Wollongong City councillors are expected to accept a tender for the refurbishment of the North Wollongong Surf Life Saving Club building and seawall construction during the council meeting on Monday night.

Project Coordination was the winning company out of four tenders.

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Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbury said he looked forward to seeing the project completed.

"The assets are highly used and in high demand. The works are long overdue," he said.

The renovations to the North Wollongong SLSC include an internal refurbishment and reconfiguration, a new balcony area adjoining the function room, structural works to secure the old building and painting to match other heritage buildings in the area.

Crucially, an elevator will be built to provide accessibility to the club.

"The developed design considered the building's overall functionality, whilst taking into consideration the heritage significance of the building as well as potential planning constraints," council documents said.

"Council progressed this design and investigation which, following community consultation, has resulted in an option to provide a modern facility capable of meeting the primary requirements of a surf lifesaving facility, as well as creating a building asset to complement the aesthetics of the North Wollongong Beach precinct."

The more complex part of the project is rebuilding the seawall in front of the club, which will be done at the same time to minimise disruptions to beachgoers.

The existing crib lock wall was not originally designed for coastal wave protection, therefore the promenade including the heritage kiosk and the North Wollongong SLSC are at risk of the effects of climate change.

The new seawall has been designed based on the advice received from coastal engineers.

The proposed works include the replacement of the existing crib lock seawall with a new tiered seating precast concrete seawall incorporating rock mattress protection below sand level.

New pathways and ramps to the beach will be built to improve access around the precinct.

New seating, fencing, landscaping, lighting and stormwater upgrades will also be carried out.

The council will return at a later date to construct stage two of the seawall, which extends south of the club to the North Beach Pavilion.

Earlier in the month, council's grant application was approved for $4.2 million under the government's coastal estuary and floodplain management program. The rest of the project will be funded from council budget and grants.

Cr Bradbury said the project was expected to start in April, with the intention to get as much of the work done during the winter months when the number of beach users was reduced.

"It will be important to get all the work sorted before September 2022 for the UCI Road World Championships," he said.

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