A gold shovel, a toss of dirt and a handshake signalled the start of construction of the new $2.25 million University athletics track and facilities at the St Lucia campus on September 23.
Queensland Minister for Sport Mick Veivers recently joined Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay, Secretary and Registrar Douglas Porter and UQ SPORT chief executive James Voght at a 'turning of the sod' ceremony.
The track will be constructed of the same polyurethene material as the new track at Melbourne's Olympic Park and is of the same standard as the Olympic training track in Sydney.
The State Government has contributed $1 million toward the track, with the Univeristy to pay a further $500,000 million towards the project, with UQ SPORT funding the rest of the project. Completion of the track is expected by January 1998.
The eight-lane 400m running track and field event area, which surrounds the existing rugby field on Oval No. 5, is expected to be an added attraction for Olympic teams seeking Australia-based training facilities in the lead up to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Senior members of the USA Olympic Committee and delegates from the Italian Olympic Council, British, French and Belgian Olympic Games preparation committees have already inspected the University's sports facilities.
The track is the single largest sporting project the University has undertaken in recent years.
The field event area will accommodate sports such as pole vault, high jump, long jump, discus, shotput and javelin.
For more information, contact James Voght (telephone 07 3371 7777).
