SPORT ENGLAND have announced an award of up to £23,540,000 for the English Institute of Sport Sheffield project. This multi-sport facility, adjacent to the Don Valley Stadium, will provide a regional base for the delivery of services to athletes within the English Institute of Sport (EIS) and a world class training facility.
Announcing the award, Trevor Brooking, Chairman of Sport England said: "Sheffield has always been identified as a vital site within the English Institute of Sport network and I am delighted that our partnership with Phoenix Sports Ltd and the national governing bodies will result in world class training facilities for such a wide range of sports. This is a massive project for the region and will complement the £12.9 million Sheffield Ice Centre that is on schedule to open on the adjacent site in autumn 2002."
The new project represents the highest single investment in the national network of EIS facilities and will enable athletes living and training in the region to access elite sports facilities on their doorstep.
The facility will include:
- a National Indoor Athletics Centre with capacity for 1,500-2,000 seats for events - a national table tennis centre - a regional judo facility - a national netball centre - a badminton performance centre - a large conditioning area and state of the art sports science and sports medicine facilities.
Although an original award was made to Phoenix Sports Ltd in July 2000 (the development company for the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield), the Sport England Lottery Panel and English Sports Council agreed to increase their support mainly to accommodate the additional sport of badminton. All the grant conditions have now been achieved and work will begin on site later this year.
THE ENGLISH Institute of Sport is a network of sports facilities and services that forms part of the UK Sports Institute. It is designed to provide World Class athletes with the best high-performance training environment in the world. Athletes in every region will have access to a range of support services from physiotherapy to biomechanics, sports nutrition to strength and conditioning coaching.