A DRILL crew is sinking bore holes at Flora Hill's vacant athletes' village site in some of the first visible work on what is shaping as Bendigo's biggest Commonwealth Games build.
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Workers began drilling the first on Wednesday as deliberations over exactly what will rise there continue behind closed doors.
The government is yet to lock in design plans but wants facilities that can be converted into homes once the 1600 athletes and team officials no longer need them.
It is also still working out what temporary buildings might be needed - think medical facilities and common rooms - games delivery minister Jacinta Allan says.
"This site was for many years student accommodation ... but it hasn't been activated for a really long time," she said.
Crews will be boring holes for the next two weeks and may need to manage traffic on roads like Osborne Street, Cook Street and Retreat Road.
Traffic might need to make minor diversions.
Their findings could shape which buildings and roads go where, and where to lay utilities like telecommunications cables, electricity and sewage.
"We do this for all our major projects," Ms Allan said.
The government wants detailed designs before putting civil and building works out to tender.
"There's various steps and we are peddling very hard through them to get the construction of the village underway," Ms Allan said.
The government wants works to finish about six months before the games begin in May 2026. It has 1112 days left before the opening ceremony.
Builders will leave a heritage-listed homestead on site but it is too early to know for sure how it will be incorporated into the athletes' village layout, Development Victoria's games villages senior director Kathryn Lord said.
"It will be paid due respect as far as the encroachment [of other village elements] into that space," she said.
Games organisers also want to introduce Indigenous design elements into the project, Ms Lord said.
"It's a village co-designed with the Dja Dja Wurrung," she said.
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
