Richmond Football Club CEO, Steven Wright, was joined by Minister for Sport, The Hon James Merlino MP, and local member and Minister for Indigenous Affairs, The Hon Dick Wynne MP at the launch of the redevelopment of Punt Road Oval on Tuesday.

Matthew Richardson and rising star nominee Trent Cotchin were also present to observe the bulldozer as it came crashing into the concrete terraces at the northern end of the ground.

The Victorian Government has committed a total of $4.5 million to the Richmond Football Club.

Mr Wright said that the funding would go towards the development of a new indoor facility, ground improvements and drought proofing of Punt Road Oval.

The development will be accessible to the local community and will include the following:

- Community gym
- Indoor sports centre
- Meeting rooms
- Reinstatement of the Jack Dyer Grand Stand
- A new museum

Punt Road Oval is an iconic landmark in Melbourne. For the better part of the last century it served as the hub for the Richmond Community.

This injection of much needed funding will enable the ground to be restored to its former glory and state of the art building works will be at the forefront of the development.

“Most importantly, this money will be used to repair the damaged oval so that the Richmond Football Club will once again have a permanent training base,” Mr Wright said.

A key outcome of this funding will be the introduction of a significant environmentally sustainable management system for maintaining the oval surface and community facilities at Punt Road Oval.

“Our vision is that in 2008, the centenary of RFC’s involvement in the AFL and the AFL 150th Birthday, Punt Road Oval will once again become a centre of community life for the residents of inner Melbourne,” Mr Wright said.