In a joint venture with Netball Victoria and supported by the City of Melbourne and the AFL, the Demons will take part in a feasibility study into a proposed sports and community centre in the Waterfront City precinct, next to the Bolte Bridge.
One vision for the site, currently known as Western Park, includes an full-size Australian football training ground alongside indoor netball courts, a pool and gym facilities that also allow public access.
However, that scenario is just one of three proposals for the park, which will be developed in the next stage of the Docklands project.
The study, which will include community consultation, will be conducted in the next two to three months and a formal submission will follow.
Melbourne president Jim Stynes said the project had the potential for the "old Melbourne" to move into the "new Melbourne", while providing football and netball facilities for all levels of participation.
“Initially, our aim was to establish a new home for the Melbourne Football Club with a strong sense of identity which would unify our club," he said.
"For the first time in over forty years, all the club’s activities from administration, training to community would be together, and most significantly, in our heartland - the city of Melbourne."
Stynes said the club was encouraged by the scope of the proposed joint venture and he envisaged becoming a sporting and social hub for the Docklands community.
Melbourne's pursuit of a training base at Docklands did not change its commitment to its plans to train at Casey Fields, Stynes said, and it remained excited about its immediate future at AAMI Park.
"We have locked-in a thirty-year agreement with Casey and we are seeking to build our community presence in the quickest growing growth corridor in Victoria," he said.
All costs and the prospective timing of the eventual development will be estimated as part of the next stage of the project, but the club said a "best case" scenario was three to five years.
