BRIDGESTONE’S former Adelaide tyre factory has been further rejuvenated as an athletics tracks as previous facilities supporting the Australian car manufacturing industry take on new shape.

The new facility is another step in the $5.3 million refurbishment of the Bridgestone factory in Salisbury in a process that started in 2017 with the construction of playgrounds, including swings made from tyres.

The 6.8-hectare site, named Bridgestone Reserve, already has a fitness trail, grassed ovals, flying foxes, a toilet block, carpark, barbecues and picnic areas.

Now the site, donated to the City of Salisbury when Bridgestone closed its plant in 2010, will add a 400-metre athletics track.

The plans for the track were outlined by Bridgestone Australia and New Zealand managing director Stephen Roche, City of Salisbury mayor Gillian Aldridge, Little Athletics SA CEO Sue Bowman and Athletics SA CEO Shane Fuller.

Mr Roche said the addition of the athletics facility will create further value for the community and is a fitting use of the space.

“Bridgestone’s vision for this site was for it to be a welcoming environment and regularly utilised by the community, and since the opening of Bridgestone Reserve it has done just that,” he said.

“To see Bridgestone Reserve receive such a significant upgrade highlights how important this space is for the community, and fills us with pride to have made such a meaningful contribution.”

Bridgestone said that the donation of the land to the City of Salisbury council echoed the sentiments of Bridgestone’s founder Shojiro Ishibashi (whose surname translates as Stone Bridge), who aimed to benefit society through the provision of sporting facilities for the community around its original factory in Kurume, Japan.

Today, Bridgestone says it strives to enhance the way people live, work, move and play through its global corporate social responsibility model ‘Our Way to Serve’, and as a worldwide Olympic and Paralympic partner the company aims to transform, ignite and inspire the dreams of future athletes with the ‘Chase Your Dream’ message.

“Bridgestone’s ‘Chase Your Dream’ message could not be more relevant to the athletics community that will benefit from this new state-of-the-art facility. What was once the source of high-performing tyres will soon be the proving ground for future Olympic athletes,” Mr Roche said.

Bridgestone’s Adelaide factory evolved from SA Rubber Mills that started in 1939 and became the sole rubber supplier to the new Australian car, the Holden 48/215, in 1948.

One of its key employees, Robert Footner, who joined the company in 1940 and rose to chairman, built SA Rubber into Australia’s largest and most successful supplier of rubber and plastic parts, mainly to the booming car industry.

In 1962, US Rubber (Uniroyal) bought into SA Rubber. Mr Footner built a factory for production of the Uniroyal Steel Cat tyres. SA Rubber became Uniroyal Australia in 1962 and Mr Footner became managing director with five factories and 3000 employees under his control.

Uniroyal sold to Bridgestone in 1979, when Mr Footner became chairman and joint managing director of Bridgestone Australia until his retirement. In 2007, Bridgestone Australia became a wholly owned subsidiary of its Japanese parent and in 2010 the Adelaide factory was closed with the loss of 600 jobs. A further 275 jobs were lost at Christchurch, New Zealand.

The SA Rubber Mills art deco building on South Road was demolished in 2018 to make way for a Bunnings store.

By Neil Dowling