A CONTRACT for construction of the new National Indoor Arena at the National Sports Campus in Dublin 15 is imminent it was announced during a recent ministerial visit.
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, made the announcement during a visit to the campus just before Christmas.
“The development of the National Indoor Arena is very significant in terms of our sporting infrastructure and will provide world-class indoor training facilities for Irish athletes to train and prepare for international competitions,
? he said.
The minister was informed that the National Sports Campus Development Authority (NSCDA) had selected a tender for the much anticipated Indoor Arena, and details are due to be revealed shortly.
Chairman of NSCDA, Sean Benton, expects the campus to take a significant leap forward over the next two years.
He described the new indoor arena as
“the missing piece of national sporting infrastructure
?.
“This facility will give over 20 different sports access to world-class training and competition facilities and help drive the development of Irish Sport into the future,
? he said.
During his visit Minister Donohoe also viewed progress on works currently underway on the development of the Irish Institute of Sport High Performance Centre and the Campus Pavilion Building.
Both projects are due to be completed this July. Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring, said the facilities would benefit Irish athletes preparing for the Rio 2016 Olympics.
“I am sure that these facilities will be a great addition to those already available for athletes as their preparations for the Games intensify,
? he added.
“In addition to these two projects, further facilities will also be completed in 2015. Two new multi-sport turf pitches will be ready for use in Spring 2015, accommodating Gaelic games, soccer and rugby.
“The GAA and the FAI are also expected to complete work on their pitches in March 2015. This year will also see the commencement of work on a new HQ for Special Olympics Ireland, for which the Government has allocated
?¬5 million.
?
The National Indoor Arena, when completed, will incorporate the National Indoor Athletics Training Centre and include a 200m track, a sprint track, jump & throw areas and 1,500 spectator seats).
It will also be home to the National Indoor Training Centre, accommodating over 20 sports, and the National Gymnastics Training Centre.
It’s now 12 years since the first element of the National Sports Campus opened.
The National Aquatic Centre opened in 2003 in time for the Special Olympics World Games, which were widely hailed as a huge success.