Just days after the last horse left the parade ring at the end of this year’s Galway Races Summer Festival, bulldozers had moved in to raze the Tote building to the ground in the first step of a €6m redevelopment at Ballybrit.
It took builders 12 days to demolish the long, narrow building and the 30 workers on site already have the new construction up to ground level after putting in the foundations.
“The plan is to have the entire project finished in June. It’s an all-in contract to build and fit the building out and it will completely transform the look of the eastern end of the racecourse as the old building was square and deep while this will free up a lot more space,” explained Racecourse Manager Michael Maloney.
The ground floor will be the new home for Ladbrokes bookmakers and the Tote with capacity for up to 550 racegoers. Upstairs will accommodate the champagne marquee with a fabulous covered terrace overlooking the parade ring, betting ring and part of the racetrack. The building will also have new toilet facilities.
Racegoers at the two-day September meeting at Ballybrit this week saw the biggest development at the track since the Killanin stand was opened in 2007 begin to take shape.
To read the rest of this article, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.
The post New Tote building will have capacity for 550 racegoers appeared first on Connacht Tribune.