THE RACECOURSE.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 June 1920, Page 5

THE RACECOURSE.

IMPROVEMENT SCHEME. ADOPTED BY THE CLUB. ATTRACTIVE COURSE PROPOSED. The Taranaki Jockey Club, at largely attended special meeting held i the Soldiers' Club last night, unan mously adopted the recommendations o the committee providing for a compri hensive and ambitious scheme of in pioveincnts to the racecourse, estimate to cost £70,000. Hit! scheme provides for the purchaf of an additional area or nearly 24 acre adjacent to the present course, makin a total of 55 acres, and for the adoptio of a plan of improvements submitte by Mr. A. C. Hill, of Ellerslie. By th adoption of Mr. Hill's plan the clu will have, when the scheme is complei cd, one of the finest and most up-tc date race tracks in the Dominion, an the appointments will be on a lavis scale. The track will be almost perfei in shape, giving two straights and tw regular curves. Although tlfo schem has been adopted by the club, it is likel that jt will be at least seven years b( fore the improvements are complete! but, meanwhile, temporary additions t the accommodation will be provided t meet the increasing needs of the public fortunately, the club's finances are o a -very satisfactory basis, and tti initial expenses of the big scheme ca be met without any difficulty. NEED FOR EXPANSION. fIJ/l P " si<lent <Mr. I* A. Nolan) sai that for the past few succeeding vears i Had been becoming increasingly" appai eat to the committee that the time wa last approaching when the club mu« consider providing ver y much increase accommodation for the public, and als permanently improving the racing trac and training tracks, For the pas twelve months the committee had give careful consideration to this questior and at the last annual meeting it wa announced that expert advice had bee sought in the direction of showing wha improvements could be effected at th present racecourse site. A comprehensiv tt'J" . submitted h -Mr. Hill, of Ellershe, on lines suggeste by the committee, showing that by ac quiring an additional area of land 01 the clubs present southern bpundarv one of the most up-to-date racecourse in the Dominion could be provided an the accommodation for the public im proved to provide for all reasonable in creases in patronage. The eommitte believed that it was vital to the clul either that this additional land shoul, be acquired, or in the alternative a racecourse site should be sought else where in the district. The committed had been unable to find such an alter native s!tc within reasonable access o the railway line, but had now securci from Mr. Newton King an offer to gel t roods 50 P erches f °r the sun 01 £, 10,500. A PORTION EACH YEAR. The plan submitted by Mr. Hill wai placed before the members by the chair man, who proceeded to explain the vari ous improvements proposed. Describiir the vanous features of the scheme .oi the plan, the chairman remarirsd tha probably the most ambitious portion o the scheme was the big drive, whicl when completed would be one of thi best in New Zealand. The eommitte. did not propose to go on with much o the scheme at present, although it wa necessary to secure the land as early a possible. The object in working accord »ig to the plan was to do a little eacl year. The earliest appointments to be com pleted would be the grandstand, officia stand, and the public stand. The shap, of the course would .bo similar to tin Wellington course, which, as far a: straight and bends were concerned wa recognised as about the best in the Do minion. The committee had come to thi conclusion after last February that r was impossible to carry on, as there wai hardly sufficient ground to move about One of the most urgent matters wa: the provision of more totalisator ac commodation, and it was proposed t< erect a temporary building next yeai and complete a permanent buildinwithin two years. c LARGE EXPENDITURE. The scheme was going to cost a loi of money, added Mr. Nolan, for it meanf an alteration to the whole of the cours: find the scrapping of the present buildings. The stands would have to be entirely re-built, and on the new plan they would be in line with where the straight ran at present, allowing mort <pace for lawns and the totalisator. The grandstand, fn his opinion, had outlived its usefulness, but the timber and iron would be very useful for othei buildings. The stewards' stand, also svas not sufficiently up-to-date, and not big enough for present-day requirements, as it was practically impossible under existing conditions to keep the iiird-cage clear. It might seem that the scheme was too ambitions, but it was not going to ie completed straight away, and would take about seven or eight years to larry out. THE QUESTION OP RIGHTS. Part of the ground, said the chairman, was borough reserve, and the committee did not know exaetly what rights ;he.v had. One thing was that they°beieyed they had not the right to erect hi i Mings in the centre of the course. In 3onsequence, a deputation had waited on the Borough Council, and the Council lad received an opinion from its solicits that the club hao> complete rights iver the whole of the course. It was, of course, perfectly clear that if cricket Wd football pavilions were allowed to je erected on the ground in the centre )f the course it would be quite unsuitable for racing. Now that they had re■oived the legal opinion on the matter the position of the club was quite :lcar. The chairman then formally moved that the recommendations of "the committee be adopted. The motion was seconded bv Mr F Drbell. FINANCING THE SCHEME. Mr. A. Goldwater asked if any scheme if finance had been drawn up. ■ It was t big scheme and the financing of it vas an important matter. The chairman said that the club had sufficient funds available to commence :ne scheme. The big outlay would :ome when the stands had to be erected, and then the club would have to think of means of raising money. The Jrofits of the club were increasing ivery year. With the additional land purchased fi>» ilijb would hav» 63 g££»