The House of Sport has officially opened its doors
The launch of the new community venue yesterday was hosted by Cardiff Council’s sport development team, Sport.Cardiff, and Director of Cardiff City Football Club (CCFC) Steve Borley.
Also attending was Leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr Rodney Berman, Executive Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture, Cllr Nigel Howells, as well as Cardiff City manager Dave Jones, and players Craig Bellamy, Jay Bothroyd and Adam Matthews.
The event provided an opportunity to see the excellent facilities on offer being used for the first time as schoolchildren from across Cardiff and South Wales took part in the npower Kids Cup on the state of the art indoor playing surface.
The House of Sport is the result of a partnership between Cardiff Council and CCFC stretching back to the development of the new Cardiff City Stadium.
As part of that project Cardiff Council was determined to make sure the local area gained from the development, with the House of Sport part of £32m of community benefits.
Cllr Berman said: “When the Council negotiated with Cardiff City to develop the new stadium the House of Sport was always a key part of this project. It was important that this development gave something back to the community and the House of Sport, which will include Cardiff’s first indoor ‘3rd generation’ sports pitch, as well as other major facilities does just that.
“Earlier this year when the club was facing widely reported financial difficulties the Council agreed to allow CCFC to sell undeveloped land around the new stadium in Leckwith. As part of that agreement the club’s construction partners CMB Engineering guaranteed to deliver and operate the facility by March 2012, so I’m delighted that phase one has been completed ahead of schedule.
“There was a lot of scepticism at the time over whether we would ever see this facility open its doors and so I’m pleased that thanks to our persistence we have arrived where we are today.
“This is going to be an important community facility and will provide an opportunity for children to get involved with sport, enabling them to fulfil their potential whilst promoting an active and healthy lifestyle for the future.”
Executive Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture, Cllr Nigel Howells, added: “This development is the result of an exciting project geared towards the community. Seeing first hand what joy it brings to children is fantastic and I am hopeful the venue will continue to benefit more schools and community groups in the future.”
The new facility features a state-of-the-art indoor football pitch, lecture theatres and a gym. It is also accessible to schools, clubs, local community groups, universities and colleges.
It will also be the training home for the CCFC Academy with the aim of developing home-grown talent.
The House of Sport is the first facility of its kind and is being developed as part of a two-phase build.
The second phase will be completed in March 2012 and will see the arrival of a new sports hall and office space.
The facility has been funded by CMB Engineering and is part of the community wellbeing contribution for the overall Leckwith development.
