Derry City & Strabane District Council Mayor Lilian Seenoi-Barr pictured with George Lucas, Chair of Sport NI, Karen McFarland, Director of Health and Communities (DC&SDC), Dacynda Rafferty, Architect, GM Design Associates, Cllr Brian ‘Barney’ Harte, Jayne Moore, Capital Development Officer, Sport NI, Aiden Lynch, Sports Development Manager (DC&SDC), Aidan McNamee, Contracts Manager at OB Construction, Cllr Paul Boggs, David Mullan, Capital Works Project Manager (DC&SDC), and Chris McElvoy, Project Manager at OB Construction.
The £3.2m upgrade works at the site will include a dedicated boxing facility and a multi-use three court sports hall with accommodation for gymnastics, new changing accommodation, changing places facility, extra storage and additional car parking spaces.
The upgrade was made possible after Council received an investment of £1,845,000 through Sport NI’s National Lottery funded Multi Facility Fund.
Mayor Barr said the completed project will enhance the existing facilities at the Melvin and open it up to new users.
“The turning of the sod is a good news day for everyone in the Strabane area,” she said. “The upgrade works will include state of the art facilities for boxing as well as gymnastics equipment and many other sports will also benefit from the enhanced facilities at the site which will allow for additional user capacity.
Sport NI have worked closely with Derry City and Strabane District Council along with Disability Sport Northern Ireland to ensure the design is fully inclusive for people with disabilities and meets the requirements of the Inclusive Sports Facility Accreditation – this is a facility that everyone in Strabane will be able to use and benefit from.
“I would like to acknowledge and thank all the partners who have brought the project to this key stage and Sport NI for their significant financial investment in it.”
George Lucas, Chair of Sport NI, added: “We are delighted to see works commence on this project.
“At Sport NI we believe in the power of sport to change lives and with funding made possible thanks to National Lottery players these upgraded facilities will provide more opportunities for sports clubs, community groups, youth groups, schools and residents from across Strabane to participate in sport and physical activity.”
For full details of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Leisure Facilities and to book classes and activities visit: derrystrabane.com/leisure
