News / sportscotland’s cash pledge towards indoor pitch
WORK is to get underway on a new indoor training facility at Clickimin after sportscotland awarded funding of £500,000 towards the £1.9 million project.
The rest of the funding package will come from the existing budget for the replacement Anderson High School, currently being constructed next to the leisure centre.
Two thirds of funding for the new school – due to be completed in 2017 – is coming from the Scottish Government and the remaining third from Shetland Islands Council under the Holyrood administration’s schools for the future programme.
sportscotland’s sports facilities fund will allow for the building, suitable for a range of sports including football and rugby, to be built using a steel truss design with a “tensile membrane” covering to allow natural light to permeate inside.
It will have a synthetic playing surface of 60 metres by 40 metres, which can be split into three smaller areas using lifting dividers. Plans for the 12.5-metres high structure were first unveiled last November.
Specialist contractor Collinson Construction is to begin work on the new facility – immediately to the south of the existing leisure centre and bowls hall – in January, with construction expected to take 35 weeks to complete.
Shetland Islands Council’s education committee vice chairman George Smith, who also chairs the Shetland Sporting Partnership strategic group, said: “This will be a tremendous addition to the sporting facilities of Shetland and will provide much-needed pitch space under cover to help our sportspeople develop their skills and enjoyment of their sport.”
Shetland Recreational Trust general manager James Johnston said: “We have been working very closely with Shetland Islands Council to make sure that we can provide the requisite space for the needs of pupils at the new Anderson High School.
“As well as benefiting pupils during the day, the new facility will free up space in the existing leisure complex in the evenings and at weekends to meet the demands of our sporting community.”
sportscotland chief executive Stewart Harris said: “At sportscotland we know that sports and leisure centrers play an important role in bringing communities together and making the all-important links between school and community sport. That’s why we were happy to invest £500,000 in this project.
“The increased capacity and the flexibility provided by this new indoor training facility at Clickimin Leisure Complex will offer everyone in the local area more and better opportunities to get active and, importantly, the opportunity to take part in sport all year round.”
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