THE cost of keeping Meadowbank Stadium running while the redevelopment of the site is put on hold has dropped by £10 million.
Councillors will be asked to approve spending the minimum amount required – just £1.45m – to keep the ageing and deteriorating facility ticking over until a replacement is up and running.
The figure is around £10m less than the sum quoted by the c
ity council's consultants in November last year.
Council chiefs were forced to delay plans to build a new £25m sports centre after it was revealed in November 2008 that the land being sold to fund the majority of the project would only fetch £5m – not the expected £17m.
Councillors will be asked to approve an interim investment programme for essential works at a meeting on February 5.
Jim Inch, director of the council's corporate services, said: "Expenditure of £11.9m now would provide no significant sporting benefits, nor offer value for money.
"It is necessary therefore to consider the minimum package of investment at this time that would extend the operational life of the facility.
"The council is committed to redevelop Meadowbank through a new facility on the site when land values start to recover and a funding package can be secured."
The essential works will be carried out from 2009 to 2012 and will include repairs to the structure of the building, resurfacing of the internal and external athletics track and prioritised replacement of ceilings, floors, internal doors, and decoration.
Mr Inch said the work had been selected on the grounds that it will avert forced closure of part or all of the building, avoid major disruption of services to users, and ensure all relevant statutory obligations are met by the council.
Around £1.05m of the funding required will be obtained from the current capital investment programme for Meadowbank, with £400,000 allowed for within the draft asset development programme for 2011-2012, subject to council approval.
Mr Inch said: "This is the minimum level of investment necessary to address identified deficiencies in the building infrastructure and to extend the operational life of the building. In the absence of a more substantial level of refurbishment, a risk of failure of an essential element of the building remains."
Meadowbank has expensive mechanical and electrical problems, out-of-date changing facilities and damp, and its building fabric is in a state of disrepair.
City sports leader Deidre Brock said: "We can't escape the fact that Meadowbank is nearing the end of its life, but this interim investment will help to keep the facility open and operational until the city is in a better financial position to start the new development.
"Investment at a higher level simply to maintain the facility temporarily is not best use of taxpayers' money."
The full article contains 469 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
