Opening of the Ballina Marine Rescue Tower
The official opening of the Ballina Marine Rescue Tower will take place on Friday 21 April 2017.
The official opening will be conducted by Kevin Hogan, Federal Member for Page; Troy Grant, NSW Minster for Police; Tamara Smith, State Member for Ballina; and Mayor David Wright, Ballina Shire Council. Several other dignitaries will also be attending.
The ceremony will commence at 10:30am and conclude at around 12:15pm.
The construction of the new $2.3 million tower, the demolition of the old tower and landscape works were completed late last year.
“The new purpose-built headquarters includes a range of new features including new surveillance technology, an internal lift for better access to the observation room and extra communication equipment,” said Chris Allison, Council’s Coordinator Projects and Contracts.
“The dedicated volunteers can now continue their important work watching over the hazardous Richmond River bar and helping keep our local boaters safe,” said Mr Allison.
The new tower has been a collaborative effort from the Federal, State and Local Governments to deliver a state of the art building to improve the safety for commercial and recreational fishing and boost the regional economy.
The funding for the $2.3 million project was a collaborative effort and included the Australian Government ($850,000), NSW State Government ($550,000), Ballina Shire Council ($318,000), Marine Rescue NSW ($415,000) and the Ballina Volunteer Marine Rescue ($150,000).
