A weekly re-cap of the events that have made news in Cairns over the past week.

Monday October 14, 2002 87th Edition

Highlights this week in Cairns is certainly the Esplanade redevelopment, which is now beginning to take shape with the lagoon to be ready for swimmers by mid November. Other revamps taking place in the city include the Cazaly's sporting club, which will have a $3 million face-lift, including a 600 person muti-use function room. The Cairns Aviation Skills Centre is also nearing completion and will open career pathways for many locals. On a light-hearted note, the annual gumboot throwing competition will take place at the Babinda Harvest festival, and children's icon Bob the Builder will hit Cairns in the coming weeks.

Gumboot challenge
Two Cairns towns will go into battle armed with gumboots, for the title of the nations wettest place. Babinda and Tully, both south of Cairns, are two of the wettest towns in Australia. Volunteers from information centres in both towns will meet for gumboot throwing competitions at the Babinda Harvest Festival on October 19. The sport of gumboot throwing originated in Finland, which holds the men's and women's world records of 63.98m and 40.87m respectively. Meanwhile, the construction of a 7m fibreglass gumboot, which will proclaim Tully's claim to the title of wettest town, is now underway.

Cairns Esplanade redevelopment on track
The Cairns Esplanade redevelopment is well underway, with all heavy machinery work to be completed within a month and the massive lagoon pool filled with water by mid November. The redevelopment has now passed the halfway point and is taking shape. The lagoon foundations have been laid, work has commenced on the lagoon's shell casing and excavation in the area is 85 per cent completed. A party date for the grand opening has been marked for February 15.

Aviation centre ready for take-off
The Cairns Aviation Skills centre is just months away from its launch, with preliminary plans drawn up for a $775 000 facility at Cairns Airport General Aviation. Cairns campus manager Dave Adams said construction of the centre was expected to open by Christmas. The initial plans include four classrooms, a conference centre, three training offices, administration and reception services and a workshop for practical training. Mr Adams says industry support for the project has been enthusiastic, with graduates expected to be fed straight into industry apprenticeships after the nine-month study course at the Skills Centre.

Children's icon to hit Cairns
Bob the Builder, one of the world's biggest children's megastars is appearing live in concert at the Cairns Convention Centre on October 19. Tickets have been selling rapidly since bookings were made available. A star of six series screened on ABC TV (with 130 episodes ready for completion by early next year) has become an icon for girls and boys aged from two years. Originating in the UK four years ago, his popularity has now spread throughout the world. The CD single Can We Fix It has had success with a number one spot on the ARIA charts in Australia in September, 2001.

Cazaly's has $3m revamp
Cazaly's sporting club in Cairns will receive a $3.5 million face-lift, which will include a 600-person multi-use function room, a new TAB and Sports Bar among some of the major changes. The extension of the site will make it one of the biggest and most modern sporting social clubs in Queensland. Work is to commence immediately, with the final stages to be completed by June next year. One of the major features will be the new function room designed to follow the curve of the oval and maximise viewing of the stadium for sporting events.