On Friday 25 July 2025, a ‘turn the turf’ ceremony was held at the Resthaven Marion campus at Finniss Street, Marion, to officially mark the beginning of Stage One of the $100M site redevelopment.
This large-scale redevelopment will meet the community’s needs across the entire continuum of aged care services, with Stage One being the construction of the Resthaven Marion Community Wellness Centre. This will be a highly sustainable, vibrant hub for the community that will include space for large group activities, gym and group exercise classes, day respite, and 12 consulting rooms for services ranging from GP, podiatry, massage, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy.
‘Creating better ways to support older people to maintain their optimal health is a passion and focus for Resthaven,’ Darren Birbeck, Resthaven CEO says. ‘We want to help people stay living in their own homes for as long as they want and are able to, as well as invigorate them and help them work towards their personal goals. The Resthaven Marion Community Wellness Centre will offer great opportunities to facilitate this.’
The ‘first sod’ was turned by Resthaven Board President, Mark Porter, and Resthaven Marion Community Services Manager, Grant Edwards.
The sod turning was also attended by Darren Birbeck (CEO), Mel Ottaway (Executive Manager Community Services and Retirement Living), Kelly Geister (Executive Manager Residential Services), Merridy Baylis (Executive Manager Clinical Governance and Operational Excellence), and Sylvia Powell (Executive Manager People and Culture), along with Jacinta Robertson (Senior Manager Wellbeing), Emmet O’Donovan (Senior Manager Building and Property Services) and Brown Falconer Director, Mario Dreosti.
Peter Stretton, Chairman of the Marion Historic Village, and members of the Community Consultation Group, who were integral in informing the redevelopment process from a consumer perspective, were also present.
Construction at the site is expected to start in late August, and Resthaven Marion Community Services and Resthaven Community Respite Services administration and staff will move into the centre once the building is completed, around September 2026.
The building will target a minimum 5-Star Green Star rating, with a focus on occupant and community wellbeing through an energy and resource-efficient high-quality indoor environment. The building will be carbon neutral in operations, with a solar array installed and battery backup on site.
A full history of the Resthaven Marion and Resthaven Marion Community Services sites, beginning with the donation of land in 1970, is available to read on Resthaven’s history website – Resthaven: A History of Caring.
Established in 1935, Resthaven is a South Australian not-for-profit aged care community service associated with the Uniting Church in Australia.
Every day, Resthaven shares the lives and wisdom of older people and their carers, opening doors to the full range of aged care service options available.
Services are provided throughout metropolitan Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills, Murraylands, Riverland, Fleurieu Peninsula, lower Barossa region and the Limestone Coast of South Australia.
