Lithgow Basketball has made a slam dunk, with members finding out the club was successful in gaining $225,198 funding to complete a much needed makeover of Lithgow basketball stadium.

Member for Bathurst Paul Toole announced the grant from the NSW Government’s Stronger Country Communities at the stadium on Friday.

“Upgrades to the Lithgow Basketball Stadium not only make this a better facility for locals to enjoy, but open up the possibilities for tournaments and special events being held in Lithgow, bringing further investment into the local economy,” Mr Toole said.

The money will go towards a complete refurbishment of the council-owned building, with new hoops, backboards, seating, lights, scoreboard and flooring all in order.

Richard Marjoram, chair of the directors of Lithgow Basketball, said nothing at the stadium had changed for almost forty years.

“If you look at this now, nothing's been done to this stadium since 1981. So you can’t buy the parts and all the equipment is falling apart. We are trying to be modern and keep up with the rest of NSW,” he said.

“For us to be a really competitive state men’s team we’ve got to show what we own and what we’ve got.

“It’s going to set Lithgow Basketball up for twenty years to come.”

According to Mr Marjoram the funding was a “team effort”.

“I really appreciate Paul for his time. Without his hard efforts, without Darryl Goodwin’s hard efforts and, I have to say, without my wife Jill, we wouldn’t be in this situation today,” he said.

“The people who can’t be left out of this is Lithgow City Council. They endorsed this project for us to go into the ministerial department. It is their building and without them and their support we couldn’t have got what we wanted.”

Mr Marjoram said he was proud to contribute to future basketball players in Lithgow,

“It’s unbelievable to know that I played a part to help Lithgow Basketball now and into the future. It’s something I will forever be proud of.”

 

Source: lithgowmercury.com.au

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