Stadium and sports-led regeneration
We are delighted that the Leader of Birmingham City Council, Councillor Ian Ward, will be discussing the important topic of sports-led and stadium-led regeneration during our 1st April on-line forum. This is the third in Future Cities Forum's series looking at the social, spatial and economic impact of new stadiums. It follows previous panel discussions involving Bath Rugby and architects Grimshaw, and Liverpool City Council and Everton FC.
Birmingham City Council has just announced that the contract to redevelop Birmingham's Alexander Stadium into a high-quality venue for diverse sporting, leisure, community and cultural events, has been awarded by the council to McLaughlin & Harvey.
McLaughlin & Harvey has a strong record in undertaking large prestigious projects across the UK and has previously successfully completed projects for major games events, including the London Olympics, and sporting developments for numerous football and rugby clubs.
The Alexander Stadium project, a scheme worth an overall £72 million, received unanimous support from the Birmingham City Council Planning Committee in January 2020. It will see the venue's permanent capacity increased from 12,700 to 18,000 - with the ability to temporarily increase up to a maximum of 40,000 for major events.
The regeneration of Perry Barr, which has the stadium at the centre, represents more than £500 million of investment in the coming years, the wider plans for the area also include new housing, improved transport and related upgrades to infrastructure and public space.
The revamped stadium is set to host a range of tenants including the world-famous Birchfield Harriers Athletics Club and Birmingham City University. Acting as the new home for the university's sports and exercise students, it will bring an exciting new partnership and purpose to the stadium beyond athletics.
Councillor Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, stated that the social value and environmental commitments secured with McLaughlin & Harvey were extremely important - among them being: 30 new jobs to be created and targeted from local wards, 85 per cent of spend with local SMEs and development of an on-site Visitor Centre for exhibiting construction progress and to deliver community events.
Construction is set to commence in the coming weeks, with completion in late 2021.