Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club (NCCC) has announced that improvements to the outfield at the Trent Bridge stadium in Nottingham are progressing ahead of schedule. New turf, drainage and sprinklers are being installed at the ground as part of a £600,000 project, which is being carried out by Grantham-based sportsturf contractor, Steven Pask. Funded by an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) grant, the work also includes the extension of the

A new Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) initiative is helping to provide women with new employment and training opportunities within the construction industry, according to Olympics minister, Tessa Jowell. The 'Women into Construction' scheme, funded by the London Development Agency and Construction Skills, aims to secure work placements for 50 women a year on projects to build venues and infrastructure for London 2012. Jowell attended a taster session for the initiative

Warwickshire County Cricket Club's (WCCC) £30m redevelopment of Edgbaston cricket ground has taken a step forward after an application for compulsory purchase orders on houses in a nearby street was approved. Birmingham City Council (BCC) agreed in principle to allow WCCC to acquire buildings in the city's Pershore Road as part of plans to build a new main stand at the stadium. A hotel, a residential development and offices are

Work has started on the second phase of the National Cricket Centre at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, south Wales, home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club. An extra floor will be built at the centre, which was first opened during the winter of 1998/99, while new seating and access facilities will also be added to the site. By the start of the 2009 season, the centre will also house a

Work is set to begin by the end of the year on the £31.4m Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in North Lanarkshire after the local authority agreed to provide extra funding. North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) has approved an additional £2.4m for the new complex in order to cover rising costs, and it is now expected that preparation work can begin on site in December, with full-scale work scheduled to begin in

The designs for the US$79m (£53m, 62.2m euro) expansion of the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) Arena in Duluth, Minnesota, US, have been unveiled. The project is a joint venture between the arena and the University of Minnesota, whose men’s and women’s ice hockey teams play at the venue. Designed by Kansas City-based HOK Sport and Duluth-based SJA Architects, the arena will see its capacity grow from 5,100 to 6,600.

Operator Edinburgh Leisure has released detailed designs of the £2.5m redevelopment of its Craiglockhart Tennis & Sports Centre in Scotland. The upgrade is part of the City’s Sport and Physical Recreation Strategy, which is intended to make Edinburgh the most physically active city in Europe by 2020. When complete, the centre will be extended by one storey and will feature squash courts, a new reception area, a fitness studio and

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has unveiled its plans for the London 2012 Olympic Park. Designed by LDA Design and Hargreaves Associates, the 100-hectare park, to be set on former industrial land, has been inspired by the Victorian and post-war pleasure and festival gardens. The park will be home to the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Velopark, multi-sports arena and the Eton Manor outdoor sports complex. It will boast lawns, footpaths

A £115m golf course on the outskirts of Aberdeen has been given the go-ahead by the Scottish Government, less than 48-hours after Donald Trump’s £1bn Balmedie golf resort was also approved. The course, designed by former Open champion Paul Lawrie and being developed by the Muir Group, will also boast a hotel and housing. The proposal was previously okayed by Aberdeenshire Council and the government has decided not to call

The proposed health centre for the London 2012 Athletes’ Village has reportedly been shelved. The Architects’ Journal said that the project, designed by Penoyre & Prasad, could be scrapped and the healthcare facilities could now be housed in a temporary building during the Games. Lend Lease, the developer, is struggling to raise its contribution to the £1bn required for the village due to the global credit crisis, which has also

Work has begun on the £5m redevelopment of the University of Bradford Leisure Centre. The university is working with Cambridge-based architects Saunders Boston and Lotus Construction to revamp the sports and recreation facilities on its city centre campus. Chris Spargo, head of commercial services for the university, said: “This significant investment into new and redeveloped sports facilities not only provides a fantastic opportunity for the current and future student community,

The £250m Westside Shopping and Leisure Centre has opened in Bern, Switzerland. Designed by New York-based architect Daniel Libeskind, the new complex boasts 55 shops, 10 restaurants and bars, a 144-room hotel, a multiplex cinema, a fitness centre and a fun pool. Libeskind’s concept was to “create a public space with day and night facilities, a self-enclosed district offering endless amenities and services, almost like a city within a city”.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (THFC) has announced plans to move to a new 60,000-seat stadium in north London. The club has outlined the proposals as part of its Northumberland Development Project, which will also incorporate new facilities including a museum and a new base for the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. Plans for the new stadium cover an area around 20 acres (8.1 hectares), and include the site of the current 36,000-seat

A £2.68m artificial surf reef which is currently under construction at Boscombe, near Bournemouth, may not be completed by the end of the year. Poor weather has been blamed for delays to the scheme, which will create the first artificial reef in the northern hemisphere 225m (738ft) off the Dorset coast. Work started on the project at the end of August as part of the wider £9.66m Boscombe Spa Regeneration

Leeds United Football Club (LUFC) has revealed plans to redevelop its Elland Road stadium. Proposals do not involve increasing the stadium's capacity from 40,000, but will see a new 350-bedroom hotel complex being built in the south east corner of the ground and the creation of a new arcade running along the back of the East Stand. The arcade will incorporate shops, bars and restaurants, as well as the extension

Warwickshire County Cricket Club (WCCC) has unveiled detailed plans for the £30m revamp of Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham. The project will see the ground's capacity increase by around 4,000 with the construction of a new stand, as well as a wider redevelopment of the site. The new stand will provide improved facilities for both fans and players, including new changing rooms, bars and restaurants. Edgbaston's corporate hospitality and events

Argent, the developers leading the £2bn regeneration of London's King's Cross area, will need to use its own money to fund the next phase of the project after talks with a consortium of international banks fell through. Negotiations over the £400,000 financial package ended as conditions in the financial market deteriorated. Argent needs to start the next phase of work this month in order to finish the first buildings in

The Kewford Eagles Football Club in Staffordshire has announced details of its proposed £1.2m sports park after seven years in the planning. The club recently secured a 30-year lease for a 30-acre site next to Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club in Wall Health, which will host the facility if plans are approved by Staffordshire County Council. The proposed facility will boast 11 football pitches, varying in size for all ages, including

Plans for a waterside mixed-use development, immediately adjacent to Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs, London, has been granted outline planning permission by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The mixed-use project, called Wood Wharf, is a partnership between developers Ballymore Group, the urban regeneration company Canary Wharf Group and the site's owners British Waterways. GVA Grimley is the planning adviser for the development. The site is currently a

The first phase of a £60m redevelopment of the Leicester Tigers' Welford Road ground will be completed in time for the 2009-10 season. The first phase of the project, which involves the creation of a new Caterpillar Stand on the Granby Halls side of the stadium, will see capacity boosted from 17,500 to 24,500. The revamp, which was designed by architects Frank Whittle Partnership, is being carried out by construction

Work has started on a £4.5m project to complete the east stand at The Shay stadium in Halifax, West Yorkshire. Hall Construction Services has been appointed by Calderdale Council to carry out the design and build contract on the stand at the home of FC Halifax Town, which has remained partially built for a number of seasons. The project will see the installation of 3,500 seats, a banqueting suite for

Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club (BHAFC) announced that Buckingham Group has appointed to build its new stadium at Falmer, Sussex. It was also revealed, however, that the opening of the 22,500-seat stadium has been put back to August 2011 due to planning delays. Buckingham, which has been involved in work at Reading's Madejski Stadium and Old Trafford in Manchester, has been selected to build the new stadium, and it

Plans have been unveiled for the first phase of development at the home of Sheffield United Football Club (SUFC). It is part of a long-term vision for the Bramall Lane stadium, which could ultimately see the club hosting games in the 2018 World Cup, should a Football Association bid to host the event succeed. The club plans to submit a planning application by the end of October to increase the

The new Lammas Leisure Centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, is set to officially open on 1 November. Operated by Sports and Leisure Management (SLM) under its Everyone Active brand, the centre is being provided as part of a partnership with Ashfield District Council, which will run until 2016. The council has invested £16m in the Lammas Leisure Centre, which includes an ice-skating rink, a six-lane 25m swimming pool, a four-court sports

Construction work has begun on the £8.2m leisure centre and library in Maghull, Merseyside as part of an improvement scheme developed by Sefton Council and Maghull Town Council. Maghull Leisure Centre and Library, designed by GLR architects, will feature a five lane, 25m swimming pool and a learner pool as well as a fitness suite, a sauna, a steamroom and an aerobics studio. There will also be a fitness referral

Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC) has unveiled plans for the £200m redevelopment of Old Trafford cricket club in Manchester as part of a larger 50-acre sports-led regeneration scheme. The project, led by a joint partnership between the club, Trafford Council, Ask Developments, Tesco and Stretford High School, will include a 750,000 sq ft (69.6 sq m) development featuring a new 15,000-seat stadium with the capability of rising to 25,000 with

One of America's most famous sporting arenas, the Yankee Stadium in New York, has hosted its last ever baseball game. The New York Yankees team, which has played its home games at the stadium since 1923, will be relocating to a new $1.3bn (£717.7m) Yankee Stadium in time for the start of the 2009 season. Work on the new 52,325-capacity stadium started in 2006, just north of the current 56,886-capacity