The former Burwood Bowling Club would become a mixed use community and cultural centre under plans by the Awabakal Local Aboriginal Land Council.
Awabakal acting chief executive Kumarah Kelly said the land council planned to refurbish the existing buildings over the next 12 to 24 months.
"Depending on funding, we are hoping it could be a cultural centre that doubles as a community space and a function centre. The plan is that it could be utilised by the public but it wouldn't be a club," she said.
The land council acquired the picturesque 894 square metres site at 70 Burwood Road, Whitebridge as part of a 2018 land claim.
In recent years the site has been subject to extensive vandalism.
Ms Kelly said the current proposal would also feature a display of cultural artefacts from the land council.
"We have a lot of artefacts and memorabilia from the history of the land council that we'd love to put on display and share that really rich history that we have here in Newcastle as Aboriginal people," she said.
Ms Kelly said the Awabakal board was working on a 10-year plan for the development of the former Newcastle Bowling Club site, which it also acquired in 2018.
"We've had a lot of expressions of interest from people wanting to develop it or want to utilise it for other things, but our membership isn't keen on getting into something too soon. When we do develop it it will probably be a joint venture or a long term lease," Ms Kelly said.
She acknowledged sensitivity about the site's future development but said the land council had the right to develop the site to facilitate the self-determination of the Awabakal people.
The goal is consistent with the Land Rights Act, which aims to return land to Aboriginal communities for their spiritual, social, cultural and economic benefit.
"There's infrastructure and changes happening all the time mostly by council or non indigenous developers. We own the land and we need to be given the opportunity to develop infrastructure for the purpose of our own self determination and to generate income for our community," Ms Kelly said.
"I think that people sometimes get a little bit lost in that they think that we should just get the land and that's it. At the end of the day, it costs money to maintain."
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