Page 8 - The Outdoor Showman April - June 2022

HOBART SHOW The new Hobart
Showground
The Showground redevelopment will be one of the largest projects seen in Hobart in many decades.
The not-for-profit RAST
could not have funded the
project entirely by itself so
it offered the Tasmanian Government space within the design to provide much needed affordable accommodation in the Tasmanian capital. This partnership was sealed during the 2021 state election when the Premier visited the Showground to announce the full scope of the project.
Once the Development Application process is completed, expected mid- year, work can commence immediately. Such a large project will proceed in several stages with the new Showground arena and pavilion the first stages in a development that will necessarily occur over several years.
As well as a Showground of advanced architectural design, and a built-in role for the Showground as a secure evacuation centre, the site will accommodate 150 social housing units and 300 private units.
Also planned are amenities such as a child care facilities, shops and cafes. Continuing the Showground’s traditional community role, there will also be space for a variety of community-based clubs and organisations.
Trees, garden spaces, and community food production gardens will cover over 40 percent of the entire site. “Instead of an under-utilised block of land, the Society will transform the Showground into a space that will become a vibrant part of the community, attracting visitors seven days a week”, says Society CEO, Scott Gadd.
Designing the space is a nationally-award winning architectural firm, Partners Hill, which has experience in large complex projects, and is renowned for bringing life to places in sustainable, economical and functional ways.
Re-imagining the Hobart Showground
The Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania is about to embark on its most visionary project yet – the complete redevelopment of the Hobart Showground into a world class events precinct.
Last year, the RAST celebrated 200 years
of agricultural showing in Hobart, and this redevelopment will secure Australia’s oldest capital city agricultural Show in new and advanced facilities in Hobart’s northern suburbs, just a 10-minute drive from the CBD.
More than that, it also provides significant community infill housing, together with amenities such as child care and retail outlets. The project covers an area which is equivalent to one third the size of the Hobart CBD. It will transform the suburb of Glenorchy, and will be a staged project with a pavilion and arena for the Show as the first priorities.
“Not just a site for annual events at the Showground – but a precinct that will become ‘a part of town’ “
Timothy Hill, Partners Hill. Showground architect
An ultra modern arena and showground facilities will ultimately mingle with private and affordable housing, and service amenities, all set within extensive green spaces. It will be virtually a new suburb within the northern suburbs of Hobart - the Society’s own 200th birthday gift to itself and the people of Hobart.
What the new Showground achieves
• Secures the future of the RAST
• Secures the future of the Royal Hobart Show, which last year celebrated 200 years of agricultural showing in Hobart
• Turns an under-utilised asset into a vibrant community precinct
• Retains space for community clubs, sports and activities
• Provides Hobart with a crisis refuge for people and animals in times of civil disruption such as bushfires
• Provides significant relief to Hobart’s affordable housing crisis
• Increased community utilisation of the Showground
• Ecological Sustainable Design principles mean the precinct will be set in an area which is more than 40% dedicated to green space.
• Not a project driven by commercial developers, but a project by a community organisation – the RAST - that delivers community benefits
6 THE OUTDOOR SHOWMAN