Bold new plan for old show grounds

The Brisbane Ekka grounds will undergo a $170 million makeover to include new pavilions, commercial, hotel, residential and entertainment complexes and a cafe-lined boulevard to operate year round.

The Royal National Association, which runs the 20.3ha site, will finance some of the work but it will seek a partner to help with the redevelopment.

Several of the masterplan facilities were unveiled yesterday ahead of this year's 10-day annual show, which begins tomorrow.

Although the blueprint may undergo further refinement, its thrust has been approved by agencies including heritage and urban renewal bodies determined to retain the face of some of the original buildings.

One is the massive industrial or showbag pavilion which will be redeveloped within the existing walls so it becomes more "customer friendly" through provision of a new roof that does not require uprights and levelling of the existing floor.

By housing the RNA headquarters in the pavilion, there will be more space for Ekka Boulevard that will run across the showgrounds from a new entrance at Bowen Park, opposite the Royal Brisbane Hospital, to St Pauls Terrace where a 4000-seat entertainment centre will be built.

The boulevard will contain cafes and retail outlets that will operate all year round and will rival New Farm's James St precinct or Milton's Park Rd eating areas, RNA president Vivian Edwards said.

"For year-round use, it obviously has to be fenced off to secure our other facilities but this will be done appropriately - there will be no brick walls topped with the broken glass that has been used in the past," Dr Edwards said.

He said the existing beef and dairy pavilions along O'Connell Terrace would be the first to be replaced under the 15-year redevelopment program that would begin shortly in line with a timeframe that would not disrupt future exhibitions.

Commercial offices and possibly a backpackers' facility would also be built on O'Connell Terrace and there would be a hotel complex near Bowen Park.

A residential block would be built along Costin St, a southern boundary of the grounds, and covered grandstands would be erected around more of the main oval which would also be lined with corporate boxes.

Access to Exhibition railway station would be improved to reduce crowd congestion and there would be a new shuttle bus service station.

Dr Edwards said the RNA had been talking to the Beattie Government about the state-owned old museum building which was originally built by the association in 1892.

"We believe that this building could operate year round as a Government exposition building which, during show time, could be incorporated in the showgrounds site and be seen by 600,000 visitors," he said.

"The building needs a $20 million restoration which we cannot afford. I am not sure what the Government has in mind for the building at this stage."

Dr Edwards said the masterplan had taken six years and involved research "on what the Ekka will be in the future".