Experts draw up £60,000 options for Meadowbank Stadium
- Published
The public will be extensively consulted on the future of Meadowbank Stadium
A £60,000 study is under way to draw up plans for the future of the Meadowbank Sports Centre and Stadium in Edinburgh.
The venue is the second most used sports facility in the city.
Edinburgh City Council has appointed a project team to to work up a range of options which will be put out to public consultation later this year.
Deloitte will work on the scheme with Edinburgh architects Reiach & Hall.
They will be assisted by The Sports Consultancy on the project and the local authority will also work closely with sportscotland, Edinburgh Leisure and Scottish governing bodies of sport to get their feedback on the proposals, prior to extensive public consultation.
Best value
Councillor Richard Lewis, the city's culture and sport convener, said: "We understand the important role that Meadowbank plays in the lives of thousands of people in the city and the significance of the venue in providing sports facilities in the east of Scotland.
"The project team has been instructed to look at all options and they will be doing this in a detailed and impartial way. The public will then have the chance to look at the proposals and give us their views."
He added: "We are determined to involve as many people as possible in the assessment of Meadowbank's future and together hopefully we can come to a solution that will provide top sporting facilities in Edinburgh while delivering best value for the taxpayer."
Meadowbank is home to an eight-lane, 400m athletics track and a velodrome adjacent to the site.
The venue also contains indoor facilities including squash courts, two sports halls, dance studios, an indoor football hall and gym facilities.
Louise Martin, chairwoman of sportscotland, said: "We're delighted to help examine the options for enhancing sporting facilities in Edinburgh. Such collaboration helped deliver the refurbishment of the Royal Commonwealth Pool, in which sportscotland invested £5m and provided a tremendous venue for the diving competition in next year's Commonwealth Games.
"Edinburgh has also benefited from the new synthetic pitch at Meadowbank, in which we invested £300,000 through the Scottish government's CashBack for Communities initiative.
"Sport is currently enjoying a very high profile in Scotland, so now is the time to do everything we can to encourage the people of Edinburgh and surrounding areas to participate in sports and physical activities."