A new athletics track and pitch at Mid Ulster Sports Arena in Cookstown are one step closer with news that Sport NI has given an ‘indicative award’ of £1million to Mid Ulster District Council.
The indicative award means that the Council can progress to the next stage of the project which will see detailed designs developed for the creation of a floodlit 8-lane athletics track as well as 3G in-field synthetic pitch at the Arena.
While stressing that the indicative award was not a guarantee of funding, Chair of the Council, Councillor Cathal Mallaghan, said the news was nonetheless significant: “While this is not a guarantee of funding, it is nonetheless a significant development and a milestone in our strategic investment plans for sports and leisure and, most importantly, for our residents and customers who we hope will benefit from even greater access to the most contemporary, quality outdoor leisure facilities.”
Chair of the Council’s Development Committee, Councillor John McNamee, said: “This has been a rigorous application process and successfully reaching the stage where we have an indication of potential funding is a crucial next step in realising our ambitious plans for the Sports Arena in Cookstown.
“I look forward to the project moving to the next stage when we will appoint a design and construction team.”
The award comes via the ‘Multi-Facility Fund’ which is a capital grants programme managed and administered by Sport Northern Ireland and financed by National Lottery funds.
