MAJOR upgrades finally complete at the Equex Centre are set to boost the city's chances of attracting more elite level sports in the near future.
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Almost $2 million worth of projects at the sporting precinct have been finished, with Wagga City Council in partnership with the Wagga Rugby League only having minor details to tick off.
The long-awaited upgrades include a Kooringal Road exit, a pedestrian bridge, an additional parking area, the expansion of the southern hill and more seating and pathways around the boundary.
Wagga council's strategic recreation officer Peter Cook said the biggest focus had been to alleviate traffic flow in-and-out of the grounds while also increasing the capacity for future games.
"It was identified when we had the NRL game last year that the biggest challenge was people getting out of the parking areas at the end of the game," he said.
"We also had a lack of reserved seating, which is great for local events, but when people go to elite level sports they are expecting to purchase a reserved seat rather than just sit on the hill."
There are now three separate exits for parked cars, which Mr Cook said will greatly speed up the process of people leaving any major event in the future. He said the improvements had also increased the seating capacity up to 12,000 people.
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"Certainly upgrades like this will increase our chances of not just improving our deal with the Raiders, but with A-League and W-league games," he said.
"We have had Super Rugby there previously, but increasing the number of these events - those upgrades will definitely help with that."
Wagga Rugby League chairman Warren Barclay said they are pleased with the outcome and cannot wait for the community to see the improvements.
Mr Barclay said everyone was "over the moon" with how the upgrade has turned out.
"The problem is no one has been able to go out and use it yet (because of the COVID-19 restrictions), but we can't wait to see people out there," he said.