Maze debris foundation for agri showground
Almost 27,000 tonnes of concrete left behind when the Maze’s H blocks were razed to the ground have been recycled and used as foundations for the marquees and arenas that have taken shape in recent weeks ahead of the first hosting of the famous Balmoral Show at the former prison.
Almost 11 months since the 159-year-old Royal Ulster Agriculture Society made the decision to re-locate 16km from Belfast’s King’s Hall to the abandoned prison site near Lisburn, the venue’s transformation is nearing completion.
The erection of around five acres of marquees is almost done, while around six acres of grass has been laid down on arena spaces for horses, cattle, and sheep ahead of May’s annual three-day show.
An additional one-and-a-half acres of equine grass warm-up areas have also been installed.
While plans for other parts of the 347-acre Maze site have been the source of controversy — particularly the proposals for a conflict resolution centre and the decision to retain prison buildings associated with the IRA hunger strikers — the society’s redevelopment project has been broadly welcomed.
Its new Balmoral Park occupies 65 acres of the grounds. That is more than twice the size of the land at its erstwhile King’s Hall home.
CEO Colin McDonald said the move would provide the show with some much-needed extra space.
“The park has everything we had before, but more of it and better,” said Mr McDonald.
“The food [marquee] offering is bigger than anything else out there, I have been to all the shows out there and I know we are the leader in what we are about to do.”
Mr McDonald said the old prison foundations had come in very useful when building the new park.
“There were 26,500 tonnes of concrete in the grounds in the shape of Hs,” he said.
“That has been grubbed up and recycled and put into use again, for the foundations and for back filling drains and things like that.”
The grounds now sit above a state-of-the-art drainage system that is designed to make sure rain cannot ruin show days.
One issue that has concerned some intending to travel to the inaugural Balmoral Show at the Maze is the potential for traffic congestion. While they are close to the M1 motorway, the grounds are only accessible via a network of country roads. A new direct junction linking the site to the M1 will not be built until 2015.
Mr McDonald insists the current infrastructure will cope come show time. He said predicted traffic flow had been analysed and a number of measures would be in operation to alleviate jams, such as a shuttle bus service from Lisburn railway station.
“In the area it will be like morning rush hour every hour at the show — there will be that amount of traffic,” he said
He is confident the park will ensure this year’s show will attract more than the regular 70,000 visitors.
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