Allan Ryan from the Parkes Boars and Parkes Sports Council isn't normally one for emotion, but when he spoke at last week's event to mark construction beginning on the new Spicer Oval grandstand, you could feel the impact of the occasion.

"I can't say how much this means to the club to see this facility finally being built," he said.

This isn't just a building, or a new oval.

It's an identity.

A place for the Parkes Boars to call home.

And it is something Ryan said, when chatting to the Parkes Champion Post this week, will be felt for generations to come when works are complete.

"The clubhouse is not for the current generation, it's for the next generation coming through," he said.

"That's what will give the club a future.

"When a junior is finished playing and he sees his dad or uncle or whatever on the walls, they will feel proud.

"They come through to get their pie and coke after the game, they see the premiership winners and those senior players walking around, and it's a club they want to be a part of.

"It means the club has a bit more of a presence in the town, and more pride in the club when you can see all the history," said Ryan.

Cricket in Parkes is also set to benefit from the better facility, but there is no doubt the Boars will see the most benefit.

Instead of contributing a dollar amount, the Boars have made a deal to fit-out the kitchen and canteen section of the pavilion

"We've been able to design it the way we want, it really is our home and everyone recognises that," said Ryan.

"It's huge for the club to be able to put up our memorabilia and honour boards and have a place to call home.

"Ken (Keith) and Phil (Donato) both recognise how important belonging to a club is for mental health, to have role models, camaraderie - that's what small towns are all about," said Ryan.

Of course it gives the club a space to call home, but it also opens up a lot of opportunities for the Boars to have more ownership of their social presence.

It is also a real feather in the cap for Parkes and the Central West in general.

With three high quality grounds with full facilities, it means Parkes is well placed to hold functions, carnivals and country championships - and Ryan believes Spicer is the perfect drawcard.

"I would love to have a Country Championships in the next three years," he said.

"We also really want to concentrate on making the club a social club, and not just for players.

"It dawned on me when we had people turn up to last year's presentation night, we should be having more social functions.

"If we can try and drag in more of our golden oldies and Old Boys, that would be great.

"Committees come and go, but the Old Boys are always going to part of the club and we don't want them to disappear.

"We want generations of Boars to be proud to be involved in the club," said Ryan.

Parkes Shire Mayor, Cr Ken Keith OAM, is a huge supporter of the Boars, and explained that Spicer Oval has a grand history.

"This used to be known as Peoples Park originally, and the grandstand was named after Frank Spicer, who was an MLC and former mayor of Parkes," he said at last Wednesday's event.

"Don Bradman and some of the Australian players even played on here!"

Cr Keith also pointed out the on and off field benefits of having a facility, which will be markedly different to where the Boars currently play at the expansive Northparkes Oval up the road.

"The big advantage of what we are trying to do here is that it'll give Parkes rugby the same advantage of what other clubs have around the region, where the crowd is really close to the action," he said.

"It really does give home teams a great lift...and this will provide that opportunity for rugby fans in Parkes

"It will be able to have 300 people undercover as well....and from a cricket perspective it will give the opportunity for a covered area from the western sun," said Cr Keith.

Member for Orange Phil Donato, a keen union fan who is quite handy with the Gilbert in hand himself, admitted he was a bit biased but is firm in his belief that sport and exercise are vital for the Parkes community.

"I think sport plays such an important role in our local communities, from kids growing up to adults," he said.

"It's part of the fabric of regional and rural communities; it brings people together, provides exercise and gives mental health benefits...I always say an active community is a healthy community."

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He was keen to thank the state government for the significant $1.62 million in funding via a Resources for Region grant that have made the upgrades and numerous expected benefits possible.

"I want thank the State Government for the funding and all the Councillors present for their support," he said

"This is a fairly significant project.

"It is going to create jobs in the local community, but more importantly it is going to create that space and opportunity for young people to come and watch and participate in sport," said Mr Donato.

In possibly even more exciting news for the community, Phil even announced his intention to take part in one of our grandest traditions during the Parkes Elvis Festival - the rugby game.

"I might have to bring the suit down and have a run in the Elvis game!"

When it comes down to the nitty gritty of construction of the upgrades; Parkes Shire Council's director of works and services, Ben Howard, said he was expecting big things from the complex which is due to be completed in September next year.

"The Issue for Construction plans are on the display board next to me, and look amazing," he said last Wednesday.

"Hines Construction (a Central West construction company) has been awarded the tender...we have worked with them before, when we delivered the airport terminal in 2016.

"For those that have used that facility, I think they'll attest to the quality of the product and building.

"In conjunction with this project we also just completed the LED lightning (a $360,000 project) upgrade...stage one of that project has got the lights to meet the minimum lighting code for night football, and there is the capacity to increase it to meet night cricket as well in the future."

And don't fret - it's certainly not all about the boys.

Ryan was keen to point out that the new facility at Spicer Oval will allow the club to continue to build open the work already done to improve participation amongst girls and women.

"The women have added so much to our club, it's been such a good experience...so that was foremost in our minds when we were doing the design," he said.

"It will be so great to have facilities for both men and women - we want as many women playing the game as possible."

So bring on September 2022!

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