State of the Art Regional Sports Facility right at the heart of regenerating Ravenscraig

North Lanarkshire Council and partners are constructing a major new Regional Sports Facility on the Ravenscraig regeneration site in Motherwell. Funded by the Council, sportscotland and Ravenscraig Limited this new flagship facility is being constructed as part of the National and Regional Sports Facilities Strategy that is seeing other ambitious sports projects being delivered throughout Scotland. Ravenscraig has been designed by Populace architects, formerly HOK Sport who designed the new Wembley Stadium and were involved in the master planning for the London 2012 Olympics and working on the Olympic Stadium. Ravenscraig is a £32m state of the art facility and s being constructed by Balfour Beatty and when complete will be operated by North Lanarkshire Leisure Limited (NLL). Cllr. Jim Logue, Chair of North Lanarkshire Leisure said “The new facility at Ravenscraig is a crucial competition and training venue that will ‘raise the bar’ in Scottish Sport and will form a key ‘sporting hub’ for North Lanarkshire and the West of Scotland Institute of Sport network. It will also provide much needed local facilities to allow our home grown talented athlete’s to progress to the highest levels of sport. At the same time this facility is available for everyone and we look forward to seeing Olympic and Commonwealth Games hopefuls training and exercising alongside the rest of us”.

Designed to a high quality standards throughout, this significant landmark structure will lend a destination effect to Ravenscraig and is designed to pay tribute to the steelmaking legacy of the area, the new centre boasts the following facilities for you to enjoy:

• Full size indoor 3^rd generation synthetic football pitch with spectator seating (FIFA 2 star standard)
• 135m indoor Mondo athletics straight with throws and jumps areas (high jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vault and throws cage for javelin, hammer and discus). The athletics hall includes a dedicated strength and conditioning area with 5 Olympic weight lifting platforms.
• 9 badminton court sports hall with junkers sprung floor and integrated spectator seating
• Large state of the art fitness gym
• 2 dance studios with junkers sprung floor that will accommodate our popular group fitness programme
• 2 class rooms for Motherwell College and sports coaching use
• Large café
• Meeting room available for hire
• Sports injuries clinic
• Athlete interaction zone
• Dedicated accessible changing area
• Coaches Office with ‘hot desk’ facility
• First aid room
• Full size outdoor 3^rd generation synthetic floodlit football pitch (FIFA 2 star standard)
• 6 x 5-a-side 3^rd generation synthetic floodlit football pitches
• Jogging track surrounding the building linking into the wider network of cycle, running and walking paths in Ravenscraig

Please refer to the artists impression of how the facility will look when works are completed. Also see the layout plans and keep an eye out for the latest construction photos which we will update on a regular basis.

The new facility has good green credentials too, being mindful if its ‘carbon footprint’ it has been designed to use as much natural daylight as possible with northlights bringing light into the main activity areas and will also have modern plant and machinery and a green roof. Facilities will be provided for those who want to cycle to and from the centre.

Blane Dodds, Chief Executive of North Lanarkshire Leisure said “Ravenscraig really is the jewel in the crown that will significantly enhance sports provision in North Lanarkshire with a unique combination of facilities that will drive up sports performance in the area and we are working with a range of partners to ensure that the appropriate links and sports development pathways are in place. Even before it has been built, Ravenscraig has been nominated as a potential pre-games training camp for the Olympics in 2012 and it will also be great for aspiring talented athletes for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014. This is one of the principle venues for the Lanarkshire International Children’s Games in 2011 (http://www.icg-lanarkshire2011.com/ ) which will host the badminton competition”.

Lizanne McMurrich, North Lanarkshires’ Head of Community Information and Learning who is in charge of the construction project said that “Ravenscraig is key to our sports strategy goals of increasing participation and improving performance in sport and physical activity and I look forward to working with North Lanarkshire Leisure to ensure that this facility contributes to ensuring that more people are more active more often and ensuring those that wish to excel in sport have the facilities to do so. This facility is a significant milestone in the partners plans for regenerating Ravenscraig and has also been designed to host non-sports events and festivals. Alongside Motherwell College (which is nearing completion) this demonstrates commitment to the rebirth of the area, ultimately resulting in a “destination effect” that it is hoped to create over the next decade as the master plan and vision for Ravenscraig is delivered, which becomes an even more important goal in these difficult times.

Why not take advantage of this state of the art new facility by joining our hugely popular Access NL scheme, which also provides access to 12 other popular centres in North Lanarkshire; including the prestigious Time Capsule Leisure Facility in Coatbridge with No Limits to your health, fitness, sport and leisure with North Lanarkshire Leisure.