Repairs to keep Meadowbank up and running set to cost £12m

THE cost of "patching-up" Meadowbank Stadium to keep it running while the controversial redevelopment is put on hold could hit £12 million, it emerged today. Council chiefs have been forced to delay plans to build a new £25m sports centre after it emerged the land being sold to fund the majority of the project will now fetch just £5m, not the expected £17m.

But the ageing facility is in such bad condition that the council may need to plough in £11.9m – almost half the cost of a new stadium – to keep it in use in the meantime.

As well as its crumbling condition, Meadowbank has expensive mechanical and electrical problems, out-of-date changing facilities and damp. The city council today said it hopes to be able to maintain Meadowbank for less than the £11.9m quoted by its own consultants, but could not put a figure on how much it will cost.

City sports leader Councillor Deidre Brock said: "Whilst we wait for economic conditions to improve we need to be sure athletes have access to training facilities in the build-up to the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.

"To do this we will aim to put maintenance funding in place to make sure Meadowbank is fit for use in the meantime, but beyond that we will press ahead with a new facility. Meadowbank, in its current form, is coming to the end of its life and it isn't meeting modern sporting standards."

The News revealed on Thursday that redevelopment will have to be put on hold due to the drop in land value due to the credit crunch. Council chiefs have admitted that the project is "unaffordable" at the moment and will be delayed for the "foreseeable future".

Meanwhile, £6m the council had set aside for the redevelopment will now be used to plug a £4.75m funding gap in the Royal Commonwealth Pool refurb.

A survey on the current condition of Meadowbank has been ordered to see how much investment will be needed to keep it up and running for now.

The most recent survey, last December, revealed that £11.9m would be needed "simply for the facility to remain operational".

Labour group sports spokesman Paul Godzik is worried by how much will need to be spent to keep it up and running.

He said: "If they're going to have to spend that kind of money, it's not just a patch-up job, it's a serious investment in the stadium with no sporting benefits. We would basically just be flushing that money down the pan."

His Tory counterpart, Cllr Gordon Buchan, added: "This is crisis point for Meadowbank. . It's a very worrying situation and it could lead to partial closure."

But Save Meadowbank Campaign spokesman Kevin Conner said: "We employed our own architect to carry out on assessment on what it would cost for a full refurbishment and he put the cost at £25m so to suggest it will take half that figure just to keep it up and running doesn't add up."

Funding to keep the facility running will be agreed in February's budget and come out of the capital investment programme.

A city council spokesman said: "We will aim to reduce the original estimate for maintenance because we are aiming to rebuild when the financial climate improves. This figure was based on the building being maintained on an ongoing basis in its current form."