Racing identity Brett Dixon buys Hidden Valley Tavern

Racing identity Brett Dixon is buying the Hidden Valley Tavern.

BUSINESSMAN Brett Dixon and a consortium of friends is buying the Hidden Valley Tavern.

The deal, which should be finalised next month, will see significant change to the popular suburban venue.

Mr Dixon said he would spend $1.5m upgrading and refurbishing interiors at the tavern but had no plans to upsize or expand.

“Me and a group of mates banded together and thought we’d have a crack at it,” he said.

“My objective is to spend real money on it. We’re going to upgrade and refurbish the interior to a standard that I think will be pretty exciting for families and groups of people that want a good quality night out.”

Racing identity Brett Dixon buys the Hidden Valley Tavern. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

The tavern is expected to close for up to two months from April for renovations although the drive-through bottle-shop will remain open.

“Inside basically we’ll repaint it, lay new carpets, do up the tiles, give it a real facelift and something you’d be proud of in 2022,” he said.

“All the guys are local and good mates. It’s an exciting venture and we all like doing things properly and doing them well and you can guarantee when the upgrade is complete it will be comparable to any high quality venue anywhere.”

A name change is on the cards but the former Darwin Turf Club chairman has guaranteed he won’t be pouring beers.

“I’m not a publican and I won’t be a publican,” he said.

“Regarding management we have a number of options at hand and will be making that decision in the near future.”