LITTLE ITALY MASTERPLAN

The City of Vincent is working with the Perth Soccer Club and WA Italian Club on a multi-million dollar redevelopment of the Dorrien Gardens precinct.

This iconic precinct is well-used by local soccer players, the Italian community and West Perth residents.

The Little Italy Masterplan involves bringing together the Perth Soccer Club and WA Italian Club under one roof and creating a vibrant piazza for locals and the wider community.

ABOUT THE PRECINCT

The precinct includes the Vincent-owned Dorrien Gardens – a soccer stadium and clubrooms located on Lawley Street, the Fitzgerald Street Car Park and the WA Italian Club on Fitzgerald Street.

Dorrien Gardens is currently leased to Perth Soccer Club and has been its home ground since 1951. It has hosted many Perth Glory Women and FFA Cup matches and served as a training ground for international teams during the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™.

The WA Italian Club opened in 1937 and became the centre of sporting, social and cultural life for Italian migrants. It is now a multicultural hub that is open to people from all backgrounds and holds a variety of social events and activities. The club also operates a restaurant on site.

Vincent’s Fitzgerald Street Car Park site has 136 bays and free parking.

HAPPENING NOW

In November 2024, Council provided its support for the redevelopment proposal and agreed to submit funding applications to the State and Federal Governments.

Both submissions were sent in December 2024.

The proposal includes:

  • A public active zone (including playgrounds and seating) along Lawley Street and opening of this frontage.

  • A second competition sized soccer pitch along the western side of the Dorrien Gardens site, resulting in two competition sized soccer pitches on the site.

  • Public carparking consolidated in a four-storey public carpark on the central northern section of the Fitzgerald Street Car Park site.

  • Central piazza in the southern portion of the Fitzgerald Street Car Park site, providing a new public open space for community use, bocce and alfresco dining.

  • A widened connection from Fitzgerald Street through to the piazza, provided through the Italian Club site.

  • A new grandstand located along the eastern side of the current competition-sized pitch at Dorrien Gardens.

  • New soccer clubrooms in a two-storey configuration located at the back of the new grandstand on the central northern section of the Fitzgerald Street Car Park site. The ground floor of this building would accommodate hospitality uses fronting onto the piazza.

  • Connection of the new soccer clubrooms at the second storey to a new two storey Italian Club building located on the southern section of the Italian Club’s site, including function room, kitchen, etc. The ground floor of this building could accommodate food shops and restaurant uses fronting on to the piazza.

  • The northern portion of the Italian Club land, fronting Fitzgerald Street, could be used for future development.

  • Two future development sites, one fronting Lawley Street and another if the southern part of the Fitzgerald Street Car Park was combined with the Department of Communities site fronting Cowle Street.

The aim is to renew ageing infrastructure on the sites and increase the capacity of the soccer facilities to accommodate the growth in participation, particularly among girls and women. 

 

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