Daniel Suthalong
Plans to build a new community arena as a home for Leicester Riders basketball team have received a £1.25 million boost.
Sport England
has confirmed the grant towards the £4.5 million project after construction work got underway this week.
It was dependent on the scheme getting planning permission which was granted last year.
The 2,300 seat Leicester Community Sports Arena is being built on an area of council-owned wasteland off Charter Street near Belgrave Circle.
Sport England property director Charles Johnston, said:
“The right facilities in the right areas are fundamental in providing more people with the opportunity to play sport.
“Our £1.25 million investment in the new Leicester Community Sports Arena will help meet the sporting needs of the city by creating facilities for not only staging large indoor events but also encouraging more people to take up sport and create a lifelong sporting habit.”
The scheme, a joint venture between the Riders, Leicester City Council and Leicester College.
The arena will also be home to Leicester Cobras Wheelchair Basketball team and a regional basketball centre of excellence
It will also be open to the college students and members of the public.
“Increasing regular participation in sport is a key target for the arena and the Riders, and we believe that this investment will be pivotal for the city and the county in that regards, and in particular, for young people.”
“The location of the arena in the city adjacent to Leicester College’s Abbey Park Campus, and in short walking distance to the city centre and public transport, as well as being on a key Connecting Leicester route for walking and cycling, means we are very confident the arena will be very highly utilized for a variety of sporting activities.”
Work started this week to clean up the four acre site this week. It has had numerous industrial uses over the past two years including a gasworks.
Actual building work is scheduled to start in March and to be completed late this year.
The city council will offer a 125-year lease of the site to Leicester Community Sports Arena Limited (LCSAL), owned by the Rider’s charity Leicester Riders Foundation, with the company paying a commercial rent £40,000 annual rent for the site.
The completed arena will create 16 full-time jobs and 36 part-time posts.
It will operate on a not-for-profit basis with all surpluses re-invested in the arena, or in sports community outreach activities in deprived local communities similar to those already being delivered by the Riders through the Leicester Riders Foundation.
The Riders are putting £500,000 into the project with the same sum from the college. The Government has contributed £840,000 from its Regional Growth Fund.
