• Published: Sunday, 28 May 2023

Tom Koutsantonis MP
Minister for Transport and Infrastructure

One of Adelaide’s oldest lawn bowls clubs will have a new standalone home, the State Government has announced.

The historic Torrensville Bowling Club will be fully relocated, and retain its independence and local identity, as part of the River Torrens to Darlington Project.

The club – including its state-of-the-art 12-rink covered bowling green – will by early 2025 move from its current premises on South Road to a nearby and completely redeveloped site on the southern bank of the River Torrens at Thebarton.
The facility, established at a total cost of $9.6 million, will feature new clubrooms, car parking, synthetic greens and the reassembled canopy that was completed in 2019 - which is seen by members as an important feature of their current set-up.

Torrensville Bowling Club’s current premises are required to be moved to make way for the northern-most section of the River Torrens to Darlington Project.

The State Government’s decision to relocate the club – to a 7000 square-metre space bounded by the River Torrens, Dennis Mutton Drive and Murray Street – means it will not need to merge with another club and therefore will retain its identity and independence.

The establishment of Torrensville Bowling Club will help rejuvenate an underused section of the River Torrens and offset the loss of a portion of land at Kings Reserve for construction of the motorway.

Local company JPE Design Studio has worked as the lead designer for Torrensville’s new site, and the Department for Infrastructure and Transport will call tenders for a building contractor in the second half of 2023.


Consisting of two sets of twin tunnels, lowered and surface-level motorway, and overpasses and underpasses at key intersections, the River Torrens to Darlington Project will complete the North-South Corridor creating a 78km non-stop, traffic light-free route between Gawler and Old Noarlunga.

Quotes attributable Tom Koutsantonis


The Torrensville Bowling Club has a rich history stretching back more than a century and is much more than just a sporting venue for the club’s 200-plus members – it is an important social and community hub.

The former Marshall Liberal government had washed their hands of this great club, leaving it doomed to merge with another organisation or simply fold. From my many conversations with club members, I know how important it is for them to retain their unique identity and I’m pleased the Malinauskas Labor Government has been able to facilitate a “like-for-like” solution.

I’m especially pleased that the large canopy over the green – one of the biggest and best of its kind in Australia – will be relocated and rebuilt at the new Thebarton site and continue to provide players with protection from the elements.

We’ll engage with the club to work out when during 2024 we disassemble the canopy on their existing site and begin transferring and rebuilding it at the club’s new home.


Today’s announcement is very much in line with the State Government’s commitment that it would seek to minimise the loss of green and open space along the South Road corridor as a result of the building of the T2D motorway.


Quotes attributable to Torrensville Bowling Club president Brenton Rolton


This is a great result for our members – it’s the outcome we’ve been asking, waiting and hoping for since this project was first outlined.

As one of Adelaide’s oldest lawn bowls clubs, it’s important to us and the community to retain our independence and heritage.

We’re definitely looking forward to moving into a purpose-built new home that will retain the best elements of our current base – it’s a terrific outcome.