The Federal Government has granted AUS$35m to fund a major boost to the Adelaide Showground.

The Showground attracts more than one million visitors every year, to Adelaide and South Australia.

The new exhibition facility is part of a AUS$180m master plan for the redevelopment of the Adelaide Showground over the next 20 years.

The new building will be pillar free and have a street frontage to Goodwood Road and will connect directly to Jubilee Pavilion.

Combined with its existing facilities, the revamped showground will 26,300sq m of exhibition space consisting of a new 9,000sq m exhibition facility together with a 16,000sq m landscaped outdoor exhibition and entertainment area.

Centennial Hall, which is deemed unsafe and has not been used since 2005, will be replaced by a landmark facility which will provide state-of-the-art, environmentally sound and high-quality exhibition space for South Australia.

Construction of the new exhibition facility is planned for later this year with the 2008 Royal Adelaide Show being the first event to be staged in it.