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Edinburgh picks contractor for new Meadowbank sports venue

11 Oct 18 Councillors in Edinburgh have chosen the contractor to build the £45m replacement for Meadowbank Sports Centre.

Graham Construction will be responsible for demolishing the old venue and building the new design. The new centre, which is scheduled to open in 2020, will be build on the same site as its predecessor. The original venue on the site was built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games.

Award of the contract follows the £45m project receiving planning permission in June as well as confirmation of a multi-million-pound pledge from the national agency for sport. SportScotland has approved an in-principle investment of £5m towards the new venue.

The council had annouced last week that Graham was the preferred bidder; the finance and resources committee has approved the recommendation today (11 October).

As part of the contract, Graham Construction will launch a ‘benefit in kind’ fund of £40,000 to support local projects through time, materials and expertise, alongside a work apprenticeship programme and the creation of local jobs.

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Councillor Donald Wilson, culture and communities convener, said: “This is set to be another significant milestone for the project bringing us another step closer to delivering this new state-of-the-art venue for the city. Taking forward the approved designs also means Meadowbank will retain its status as one of the city’s flagship sports venues.”

He added that he was pleased to see that the new dedicated indoor athletics area is larger than before and will allow a number of different athletics disciplines to train at the same time. It will also be available for use whenever the centre is open as opposed to the previous space which doubled as a concourse for the stadium.

In addition to the new and improved indoor facilities, Meadowbank’s outdoor running track will be resurfaced and two new all-weather pitches for football will be available all year round. This is in addition to a dedicated purpose-built space for ‘throw’ athletics such as discus and javelin.

As well as the improved indoor athletics area, there will be two games halls for a range of sports, designed to match the size of the halls in the previous facility. There will be a gym with triple the number of exercise stations, three larger fitness studios and a purpose-built gymnastics area. The martial-arts and boxing spaces will also be improved. The new facility will also have two squash courts and a café.

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