The president's dining room on the top floor of the main
grandstand at Addington following the 7.45am aftershock
yesterday. Photo by HRNZ.
The Christchurch Greyhound Racing club meeting scheduled
for Addington today has been transferred to Forbury Park.
The 5.1-magnitude aftershock in Christchurch at 7.49am
yesterday also led to the abandonment of the New Zealand
Metropolitan Trotting Club meeting tonight.
The Christchurch greyhound meeting scheduled for tomorrow has
also been transferred to Forbury Park.
The decision to abandon the harness meeting was made by the
club in conjunction with Harness Racing New Zealand
officials.
"Everybody here worked so hard to get the place ready to go
after the weekend but this morning's aftershock put us back
to where we were after the first quake," Addington Raceway
CEO Shane Gloury said.
"There is a range of issues that necessitated the
abandonment. There is damage in many of our major rooms in
the Metropolitan Stand. We've had ceiling tiles and light
fittings that have collapsed and have been strewn across the
floor. TVs have been destroyed. There is broken glassware and
crockery, and our lift has also been damaged. Many of the
rooms are a mess."
"We also have the Welfare Centre at the raceway. There were
280 people that stayed here last night. That number is
expected to swell after this morning's aftershock, which
means that the Welfare Centre will require use of more rooms
and facilities here over the next 48 hours. The drivers'
rooms and first-aid areas are also being used as a quarantine
facility for those that are ill at the Welfare Centre.
"When you also factor in that the meeting will be at night
and the wider obligation we have to the community in respect
of the Welfare Centre, the fact that aftershocks could occur
during the race meeting, which potentially threatens the
health and safety of patrons, participants and workers, the
decision became easy. There's just too much risk involved to
allow us to proceed.
"On a positive note, there has been no structural damage to
any of our buildings. The track, lighting towers and stables
all appear to be fine."
The trials next Monday at Addington are expected to be held
as planned and that harness racing is set resume their next
Friday night for the feature Ordeal Cup meeting.
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