Sydney Indoor MX Dome, Blacktown: motocross facility closes, creditors seek payment
A newly-opened, $5 million indoor motocross facility in Sydney’s west has been forced to close its doors as creditors call for the business to be wound up with claims of no payment.
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Less than a year after the Sydney Indoor MX Dome opened to the public at Eastern Creek Motorsport Hub, the massive facility has been forced to close its doors as creditors line up with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of unpaid debts.
The company behind the inflatable indoor motocross dome is facing the threat of insolvency from winding up orders issued in the Supreme Court, after legal proceedings were launched by Nextgen Earthworks.
But Nextgen Earthworks isn’t the only contractor out of pocket, with Full Scope Electrical Services director, Jason Freer, revealing he is owed close to $250,000 for works completed at the Eastern Creek site.
“We have $248k owed to us for our works that remain outstanding,” Mr Freer told NewsLocal.
Full Scope Electrical Service worked on the $5 million project from December 2019 to June last year, assisting with everything from the design phase to construction and handover.
“The majority of the payments made to us were late, in hindsight, that was the writing on the wall to the financial troubles they were facing,” he said.
“This has really affected the ability to grow my business, it has put a strain on my business relationships and has resulted in a significant personal and emotional impact on myself.
“Trying to keep a business afloat during a pandemic, while not being paid close to a quarter of a million dollars has been an enormous burden to carry.”
The Australian-first indoor MX Dome opened after five years of planning and construction in July 2020, however, operators faced a devastating incident just days after the launch, when a four-year-old boy and his family were struck by an out of control bike that launched through the air before crashing through barriers on August 8.
The preschooler lost consciousness during the incident and was treated for head injuries by paramedics and the CareFlight specialist team as the incident unfolded.
Master Fabrication boss Ashok Patel provided the steelwork for the massive MX Dome structure, however, has been left out of pocket more than $95,000.
“This has dramatically affected my business,” Mr Patel said. “I was forced to pursue the owners of the business under the security of payment act and I was successful in securing a court order for payment by the company behind the Sydney Indoor MX Dome plus legal fees.”
Master Fabrication was working on the multimillion-dollar project for close to six months, with a total contract of work aroun $350,000.
“We were only paid a total of around $240,000,” he said.”We had no idea other contractors had not been paid for their work on the project until other creditors began raising concerns.
“All the work I carried out was certified, we completed the entire job, but we remain unpaid.”
Mr Patel said he feels he has been “cheated out of payment for our work”.
“This has almost ruined my business, we are a small business so this lack of payment really added up,” he said.
Nextgen Earthworks lawyer, Ben Tolsen from BWT Legal said his client conducted works on the development of the facility, which also remain unpaid.
“Our client is owed about $32,000, however, they are one of many creditors that have been left unpaid.
“My client conducted work at the Sydney MX Dome from March to June 2020 and we became involved in seeking the payment of funds in August.”
The 12,000sq m Sydney Indoor MX Dome cost more than $5 million to construct and was designed to hold up to 10,000 spectators.
A Supreme Court spokeswoman said the matter will return on March 23 for Directions.
In a statement made by Sydney Indoor MX Dome post online, a representative said it was “with the heaviest heart we announce that the Sydney Indoor MX Dome will not be re-opening”.
“In December 2020 we announced we had to close for maintenance which was true since the air-filled dome requires a different sort of maintenance than opposed to a normal structure,” the representative said. “But also during this time we hoped to re-design the track, do some front of house maintenance and improvements ... and remedy some problems with the company.
“Matt and Barb Bartolo have been the faces and names you have seen in direct relation to the Dome from the start of project up until their proudest moment of opening the Dome officially to the motocross community.”
The operator was contacted for comment.
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