Glenorchy City Council approves stage one of the $50m Hobart Showground redevelopment
It is full steam ahead for the Hobart Showground redevelopment after the Glenorchy City Council approved the project which has been hailed as ‘an exciting new chapter for the site’.
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The Glenorchy City Council has given stage one of the $50m Hobart Showground redevelopment the tick of approval.
The council approved the redevelopment in Glenorchy, which is set to include a new pavilion, theatre, auditorium, oval, plaza, public bar and cafe.
Glenorchy Acting Mayor Russell Yaxley said the development would be an exciting new chapter for the site.
“This approval allows the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania to redevelop the facility, cementing the site as the home of the Royal Hobart Show for many years to come,” Mr Yaxley said.
“Council officers have worked extremely hard with the society as part of the council’s due diligence in assessing the society’s proposed redevelopment, and I’m confident this approval will allow the society to construct the infrastructure it needs as a contemporary organisation which provides such an iconic event to public.”
Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania CEO Scott Gadd was happy to see the council approve the development.
“It’s been a long time coming. We’re very keen to get started and are over the moon,” Mr Gadd said.
“We’re now madly scrambling to get final pricing and various contractors in place.
“But we think we can get the buildings up this year, and then there’s another year of fitting out and landscaping.”
However, Mr Gadd said the final cost of the redevelopment could exceed $50m.
“Because of the delays, we had indications during last year that costs were going to blow out somewhat.
“But there are definitely indications now that some pricing is coming back.
“We’re now just going back to all our quotes and tenders and getting them redone so we can confirm that.
“But I think we’re looking at probably looking somewhere between a $10m and $25m shortfall to do everything we want.”
As a result, Mr Gadd said it was likely that plans for the redevelopment might change.
“It might mean that a component or two might have to be pushed down the road. For example, there’s a 1500-seat theatre planned that could be as much as $12m.
“That’s one element that maybe we delay until we can ge financing for it. But really, our intention is to get it all done in one hit.
“It is going to be subject to us finding some more money, and possibly as much as $20m.”
Mr Gadd said he hoped the redevelopment would help improve the annual show.
“We were sitting on a dilapidated site, and it was having an impact; the Royal Hobart Show was perceived as old and tired, so it was really hard to reinvent and rejuvenate.
“So the clean sheet gives us the opportunity to reinvent the show, reinvent the society, and reinvent the site.”
Down the line, it is planned that around 450 apartments will be built at the Showground.
“They are absolutely needed,” Mr Gadd said.
“Every service you can imagine you might need is within a few kilometres of the site.”
Mr Gadd hopes to start construction in the first week of March.
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Originally published as Glenorchy City Council approves stage one of the $50m Hobart Showground redevelopment
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