Construction work on stands at both ends of the ground are on schedule, but it is the larger western stand, along White Avenue, that Ballarat firm Nicholson Construction and City of Ballarat were confident to have a full skeleton by the festive break – should all work remain on track. Installation of rafters on the first bay of the stand, near the netball court, starts on Wednesday. 

Already this key structural bay starts to give a sense of the true enormity of the project when The Courier toured the site on Tuesday.

Underneath, this stand will house three toilet blocks and food trucks on game day.

There will be 18 rows of seating with the first bay, next to the new shell of the lift well, shows the outline of new coaches boxes and space for broadcast rooms.

Precast concrete panels made off-site has helped ensure progress on the stand remains on schedule amid a wet Ballarat winter.

Foundation work is now underway for the northern grandstand, stretching across the face of the social club and access to team rooms where previous seating and concourse had been in place.

Opposite, on the showground side of the ground and next to the mound, is where a new video scoreboard will later be installed.

The smaller eastern grandstand, which hugs the boundary at the Creswick Road end, features foundation work and steel postings for bays to house eight rows of seating.

When complete, the curved roof on the eastern stand will extend to ground level, featuring a covered pedestrian concourse on the stand’s outer.

Works to resurface, realign and re-size the ground to Etihad Stadium dimensions were complete in the last football off-season.

Preliminary grandstand construction was underway, where possible, between fixtures during the season.

The $14 million stadium project will deliver match-day facilities to AFL standard, including 5000 under-cover seats, with City of Ballarat partner Western Bulldogs to host Port Adelaide in a round 22 fixture next year. This will be the city’s first AFL premiership season fixture. 

Western Bulldogs have committed to hosting AFL premiership season matches at Eureka Stadium, as an alternate home base, for the next five years.

Bulldogs fans are increasingly calling past to check progress.

Stadium construction is part of a $31.1 million state government Eureka precinct, including new rooms at CE Brown Reserve and the Ballarat Sports and Events Centre upgrade.