Member for Murray Adrian Piccoli announced $323,000 in funding to replace the timber floor and roof for the showground’s Woodside Hall.

Chairwoman of the Showground trust Christine Stead said the committee was pleased to have received the funds after all their hard work in lobbying for financing.

“We are so happy these funds have come our way, the showground is the heart of Griffith, it’s an icon and we will be having a show this year so we want to upgrade the facility,” she said. 

“This is great news for the whole community.”

Ms Stead said the upgrade would be stage one of works planned for the site.

She said she would work with Mr Piccoli in the future to apply for further funds to continue improvements.

Also announced was $20,800 to the Dave Wallace Range for work to be carried out on noxious weed control, $16,600 to Wade Park for a fence to go around the gold course section of the reserve and $27,000 to North Lake Wyangan for the painting of the log cabin and removal of noxious weeds. 

The funds have come from the Public Reserves Management Fund Program as part of the NSW government’s $18 million program to improve public reserves.

Griffith Mayor John Dal Broi said the funding announcement indicated the state government was recognising Griffith as a regional centre. 

“In two weeks Griffith has picked up nearly three quarters of a million dollars in grants including the money we received for the skate park,” Cr Dal Broi said. “With council’s contribution it will all add up to nearly $1 million of infrastructure that is coming to Griffith. We want to say a big thank you to the State government and in particular to our local member in making these funds available, we need their support to help us provide the infrastructure for the city as we grow – it’s all good for the area.”