Costs force delay on stadium plans

THE future of Meadowbank Stadium and the Royal Commonwealth Pool is to hang in the balance for several more weeks amid fears over the huge costs involved in revamping both facilities.

Council officials have said they need more time to come up with a series of options mapping out how to either refurbish the ageing athletics arena, or help pay for new facilities on the existing site by selling off part of it for housing.

Some £75,000 has been spent ordering fresh surveys and commissioning new research on both facilities over the last two months.

It is understood the officials have been sent back to the drawing board amid concerns that estimates for revamping the current facilities at Meadowbank - priced at almost £40 million by consultants - are too high.

They are also still trying to work out how to fill a £16m funding black hole over the long-awaited plans to revamp the Royal Commonwealth Pool. There are concerns that selling off a portion of the Meadowbank site may be nowhere near enough to ensure the pool revamp goes ahead with enough left over for major new facilities at Meadowbank.

Deputy council leader Steve Cardownie said: "We have asked for more work to be done as a number of questions remained unanswered and we wanted to ensure that all the analysis that is done is robust.

"It might mean a slight delay but it is absolutely crucial that we get things right for the city.

"We need to let people see what our options are and how they could potentially be paid for."

Glasgow is relying on Edinburgh providing the revamped "Commie Pool" by 2014 as part of its bid for the Commonwealth Games that year.

However, the delays on the pool project, the cost of which has already soared by £7m in the space of two years, mean the future of the RCP will be far from certain when Glasgow discovers if it has won the Games on November 9.

The crucial council meeting to discuss both facilities will not be held until the end of that month.

In a report published today, council chief executive Tom Aitchison says: "Whilst I am pleased to report that much of the survey work has been completed, I require further time to analyse the findings in order to be able to bring a comprehensive report back to the council in November."

One council source said: "There is a degree of scepticism that the estimates for refurbishing the existing site at Meadowbank have been over exaggerated.

"There is no appetite for this option among the council officials, but unfortunately for them, that is the number one priority for the campaign group.

"But if there is no sell-off of land at Meadowbank there will simply be no money for any new facilities there, and the refurbishment of the Commie Pool will also be in serious doubt."