It’s beginning to look a lot like (next) Christmas as Albion Park development looks set for green light

NEXT December is the target for completing the $15 million grandstand at Albion Park after six difficult years in the wilderness.

The Russ Hinze stand at Albion Park has been fenced off for years. Picture: Bruce Long

NEXT December is the target for completing the $15 million stand at Albion Park.

The home of harness and greyhound racing in Queensland has had to get by with a makeshift facility for the past six years after the original was condemned and knocked down.

Queensland Greyhound Racing Board chairman Michael Byrne, who also has a $12 million facility at Logan to look forward to, said the reconstruction could not come quickly enough.

“The Albion Park grandstand has been a disaster for both greyhound and harness racing in that we don’t have a flagship to take people to,’’ Byrne said.

Racing Queensland chief executive Darren Condon said the project was still subject to final approval from the State Government, but funding had been approved and he was confident of completion by the end of next year.

The loss of the grandstand meant the end for Silks Restaurant, once among the most popular Saturday night eateries in Brisbane.

Plans for the new building include a 350-seat restaurant. It will also be built much closer to the track and other works will allow the venue to hold dual code meetings.

The next step for the harness industry will be a new venue at Yatala.

Byrne expects racing to begin at the new Logan track in next July.

“The industry has had a lot of concerns, with justifiable scepticism and cynicism from previous promises that have not come to fruition,’’ he said.

“I can say without fear that (Logan) will happen. It’s carved in stone and I expect work to start next month.’’

Byrne warned there was “a storm coming’’ with welfare groups claiming high casualty rates among retired greyhounds.

He said the industry was investing more heavily in the Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP), in which dogs learn the transition from racing to pet animals.

“It is a major concern,’’ Byrne said.

“We are investing more heavily into GAP now, with 25 per cent of prizemoney from abandoned meetings directed towards the program.’’

Greyhound racing has had easily the greatest growth in wagering of the three racing codes, rising from 8 per cent to 11 per cent of the total investment in recent years.

Total prizemoney distributed in Queensland has risen from $7.86 million (2010-11) to $10.35 million last financial year, with an estimated $11 million to be distributed this year.

Plans at Albion Park include a 350-seat restaurant, which will be built much closer to the track.