After being closed for 21 months, Lithgow Greyhound Racing Club's track will officially open again to racing on Saturday, October 31.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The track which was set to open in April, had to be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Australia's oldest greyhound track has undergone a complete transformation because Greyhound Racing NSW originally closed the track stating it "wasn't up to the safety standards for greyhound racing".
"We are very excited to finally be back open and racing again," LGHR president Rod Bragg said.
There will be a gold coin donation at the gate of the track for entry.
While Lithgow mayor Cr Ray Thompson is unable to make the celebrations, there will be a representative from the minister of racing and the Lithgow Workies Club.
"Going into the future we are hoping to hold races here at least once a fortnight," Bragg said.
"The track now looks amazing and we want to get back to being a place for the community."
Bragg said they are also hoping that on the day there will be some retired greyhounds so people can see that they actually make amazing pets.
"We are also looking at holding maybe a farmers market on every second Sunday, because we want to be more involved with the community," he said.
But the dedicated committee set out to change that and after "hundreds" of calls and "countless" emails, Greyhound Racing NSW spent $20,000 on the Lithgow track to get it back up and running, helping with the track and sand.
READ MORE:
"A lot of volunteer labour has gone into this project," Bragg said.
"The committee has worked really hard to get this project to where it is today."
The committee which prides themselves on being very community minded, has helped a lot of groups in the past and would like to continue doing so, Bragg said.
"During December we opened our large covered bedding ring and made it a kennel for those who had no where to take their animals during the fires," he said.
"Since the Workies Club was being used as an evacuation centre and we are right next door we opened up for peoples pets."
The ground was used for helicopter landings bringing in fire fighters and taking the tired ones out.
The committee has also opened its facilities to Zig Zag Primary School for their annual Christmas Carols, as well as hosting Swap Meets.
"We are always hoping to do more community involvement, we are open to anything and everything since the community has always given us such good support," he said.