35-12 Gates, RAC building & turnstiles in Victoria Park

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From left to right (looking from inside the park), they are the the former offices of the Adelaide Racing Club (built 1954) the turnstile building (built 1926) and the Grandstand Entrance Gates (built 1954).

The turnstile building, erected in 1926, was designed by prominent Adelaide architect Kenneth Milne.

In 2017, it was re-purposed for use as a café.

Before it was repurposed, It contained ten original cast-iron turnstiles – an indication of the size of the crowds that used to come here in those days for horse racing.

The Grandstand Entrance and the Racing Club offices were added on either side in 1954.

Notice the decorative design character of both, indicative of the post-war period, including timber flagpoles, glazed terracotta, and wrought iron work.

There is a line of Queensland bottle trees running parallel to the buildings. These trees were likely planted in the early 1930s. This is the largest plantation of Queensland bottle trees in Adelaide.

It’s easy to imagine the eagerly queuing racegoers enjoying their shade in summer.

From this point, go out of the Park onto the footpath on Fullarton Rd to see the traffic on a very odd Adelaide intersection.