Sports centre tobe new ‘Venue’

Nelson McCausland in St. Columbs Park last year with (from left), Frank Morrison, Head of Design & Project Management, John Kelpie, Director of Development Strategy and Barry OHagan, Head of Community Services.
He's backed a new judo and multi-purpose hall that will be capable of handling 2k seater gigs as a replacement ofr the doomed 'Venue.'
Londonderry will be without a similar scale 'Venue' for all of 2014. — Nelson McCausland in St. Columbs Park last year with (from left), Frank Morrison, Head of Design & Project Management, John Kelpie, Director of Development Strategy and Barry OHagan, Head of Community Services. He's backed a new judo and multi-purpose hall that will be capable of handling 2k seater gigs as a replacement ofr the doomed 'Venue.' Londonderry will be without a similar scale 'Venue' for all of 2014.

The Minister recently courted private investors to see if The Venue - a temporary demountable structure never intended for retention - could be kept going post-2013.

But no-one was interested and he announced it would be dismantled as forecast in January. Now he’s indicated that a new all-singing, all-dancing sports and recreation campus in St Columb’s Park - first reported in the Sentinel in 2009 - will fill the Venue vacuum when it eventually opens in 2015.“Although my Department will not retain The Venue after the end of this year, we have committed funding to the provision of a venue for large scale events in the city,” he stated.

“Earlier this year, I announced funding of £656,000 to the new recreational complex at St Columb’s Park which will allow the main hall to be used as an entertainment venue capable of accommodating up to 2,000 people seated,” he added.

An architects sketch of the proposed new 2k seater entertainment venue in St Columb's Park.

The Minister actually announced the investment last year during a visit to St Columb’s Park saying at the time that the money would allow the Sports Campus to be used as an indoor events space to host events with a seating capacity of over 2,000 people making it the largest permanent indoor events space in the city.

The plans for the new sports centre are impressive as revealed here before.

The project is being managed by the Council and will serve as a regional centre of excellence for Judo, Wrestling and Mountaineering. The campus will also feature a swimming pool, fitness suite, multi-sports hall, office space, changing facilities and a 3rd Generation synthetic floodlit pitch complex.