Racetrack project finish line in sight
THE roof is on, the terracing in place and the extended concrete slab is down, with the finishing date for the Towers Jockey Club’s grand rejuvenation project right on track.
The club was granted nearly $1m in 2020 through the federal government’s Building Better Regions Fund to undertake the major renovation project, with little having been done at the facility since the grandstand was torn down in the 1980s.
The $944,960 grant has been used to refurbish and extend the existing building to
provide additional undercover seating, terracing of the front lawn, a new racecaller’s tower, a new canteen and refurbishment of the TAB and TJC office space.
In March, the club appointed RJG Builders to complete the rejuvenation works, with club president Rob Kirkwood praising the works done by the contractor.
“The whole thing looks even better than we could have imagined it would,” Mr Kirkwood said.
“RJG have been great to work with, solving minor problems along the way to ensure we got the most out of
the club’s investment in the new facility.
“Every step of the way, the TJC Community Event Centre project has been on time and on budget and I think people are going to be really impressed with the end result.”
RJG project manager Joe Painter said the TJC had put a lot of thought and planning into the renovations, which meant delivering the project on time and on budget was a lot easier.
“Work began in May and we’ve been going hard at it to ensure it was completed early in October,” Mr Painter said.
“Credit to the TJC for hav
ing the vision to see what could be done out here.
“We’re pleased to have been a part of that as we head into the final couple of weeks of work.
“We’re basically down to the last of the paint work, irrigation and turf on the terracing and the last of the electrical.”
Mr Kirkwood said it had always been anticipated that the renovation would be completed before the amateur club raced on October 16.
He said the Charters Towers Amateur Race Club had advised that unavailability of the racetrack meant they would not go ahead with the
meeting, even as a phantom (without horses) meet.
“Unfortunately, the track repairs are a separately funded project, and Racing Queensland has struck major obstacles in their efforts to get the work completed for us on time,” Mr Kirkwood said.
“We’re grateful for their continued efforts to try to get things sorted in time for our scheduled December meeting.
“But in the meantime, we want to thank RJG and the TJC committee, members and supporters for helping us to finish the community event centre facilities. It’s been a massive undertaking.”