The Jockey Club, who own the Chletenham racecourse, unveiled a £45 million concept for the next stage of development at Prestbury Park, which recently welcomed more than 235,000 people for the Cheltenham Festival.
Subject to planning permission, the proposed development will create a state-of-the-art new grandstand in place of the 1920s A&R block that currently contains private boxes, which will include new annual members’ facilities, general public viewing areas, private boxes and Royal Box facilities.
Ian Renton, Cheltenham and the South West regional director of Jockey Club Racecourses, said: “Over the course of a successful 2013 Festival, we gathered customer feedback asking us to improve bar facilities, increase the number of toilets, provide further viewing opportunities of the racing and the parade ring and help improve circulation on the busiest days.
He continued, “This new development will deliver all these enhancements as well as offering much improved facilities for annual members and owners and trainers, an excellent facility for our existing A&R boxholders, and new opportunities through additional hospitality areas and viewing boxes to generate revenue to reinvest into racing.”
Provided planning permission for the proposed development at Cheltenham is achieved in time and the necessary financing is in place, the main development will begin immediately after the 2014 Festival with a scheduled completion date ahead of the 2016 Festival.