Lismore City Council has won two awards this week for the redevelopment of Oakes Oval and the annual Eat the Street festival.
Eat the Street won gold in the events category at the North Coast Tourism Awards on Thursday night while the recent $2.8 million Oakes Oval redevelopment won Council and contractor/builder Bennett Constructions an award for ‘best sporting facility between $2-5 million’ at the Northern Regions Building Awards on Saturday.
Council’s Tourism and Events Manager Mitch Lowe said since its inception in 2015, Eat the Street has grown every year and now attracts around 25,000 people to the heart of Lismore.
“People love food and they have loved this event from the first year we launched,” Mitch said.
“We continue to grow and develop Eat the Street each year with things like progressive dinners, mixology classes, and food and foraging tours. We are already planning next year’s event and have some really exciting new culinary surprises in store.
“I am so proud of the team that organises Eat the Street. It has become a signature event for Lismore and that is testament to the hard work of our events team.”
The winning $2.8 million redevelopment of Oakes Oval included the expansion of the ground to accommodate AFL games as well as new grandstands, upgraded change-rooms, and a new electronic scoreboard.
The upgrade was funded with $1.4 million from the federal government, with AFL Queensland, Lismore Swans AFL, Lismore City Council and NSW Cricket matching the funds in cash or in-kind.
“This was the first stage of our greater Oakes Oval and Crozier Field redevelopment and I’m thrilled that the hard work of our Council team and Bennett Constructions has been recognised. The work that has taken place so far is fantastic and has improved the facility significantly,” Mayor Isaac Smith said.
“We are now undertaking stage two of the redevelopment which includes a refurbishment of the Gordon Pavilion, a new grandstand, new amenities blocks for Oakes and Crozier Field, new landscaping and a covered terrace connecting the two sports fields. Once this is complete our major sportsground will be the envy of everyone in regional NSW and we will be able to attract major national sporting tournaments and entertainment shows. I would like to thank everyone involved in this significant redevelopment so far – the Oakes and Crozier precinct will soon be the jewel in the crown of Lismore’s sporting infrastructure.”
Image: Lipman Group CEO Rob McKee, Lismore Mayor Isaac Smith, Bennett Constructions Commercial Manager Tim Cohen and Lipman Group CFO Peter Thomas at the Northern Regions Building Awards on Saturday in Ballina.
