£40m 'Olympic legacy' plans unveiled for Don Valley
by Tom Walker | 12 Mar 2013
Plans include a new stadium and a National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine
Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield is to be transformed into a £40m "sports and wellbeing park".
The plans, described as the most comprehensive Olympic legacy project outside of the capital, would see the demolition of the existing Don Valley stadium and a complete redevelopment of the site.
At the heart of the planned development is a new stadium - providing a new home for the Sheffield Eagles (Rugby League) and Titans (Rugby Union) teams - as well as new venues for basketball, gymnastics and snooker
A High Performance Centre, linked with Sheffield Hallam University, would also be created along with a new National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine.
The Woodbourn Road athletics site would also be redeveloped into a 60-80 metre indoor facility to provide all-weather training facilities
Meanwhile, the demolition of Don Valley Stadium would create a continuous site of 25 acres between the new stadium and the English Institute of Sport.
The proposals are backed by critical city partners including both Sheffield universities, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Local Enterprise Partnership, the trust behind the University Technical College (UTC) and Sport England.
The plans were revealed by former Sheffield MP and sports minister Richard Caborn, who is spearheading the proposals.
Caborn said: "The plans would create an advanced sports and wellbeing park, giving a comprehensive delivery of the Olympic legacy that we promised in Singapore in 2005.
"It has the potential to build even further the sports, leisure and related wellness sector embracing and advancing a range of partners in the Sheffield City region that will have real and measurable impact on sporting performance at many levels.
"This is an economic wealth generation project which would take the Don Valley Stadium site from being under utilised to becoming an economic driver."
Andrew Snelling, deputy chief executive from Sheffield International Venues (SIV) which operates the Don Valley Stadium and EIS Sheffield, said: "We are delighted to support this project and continue to work closely and support Richard Caborn to deliver this vision."
Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield is to be transformed into a £40m "sports and wellbeing park". The plans, described as the most comprehensive Olympic legacy project outside of the capital, would see the demolition of the existing Don Valley stadium and a complete redevelopment of the site. At the heart of the planned development is a new stadium - providing a new home for the Sheffield Eagles (Rugby League) and
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