Ground has been broken at the site of a new £13 million multi-use facility in Newark set to open in 2020.
The 'Community and Activity Village' will provide a range of state-of-the-art facilities in a project run by Nottinghamshire YMCA and other local organisations including Newark and Sherwood District Council and Newark Town Council.
The aim is to provide a whole range of family-friendly facilities so that anyone in Newark can use them no matter what their interests and needs.
The ceremony to mark the beginning of work on the three-phase project was attended by the Mayor of Newark Cllr Tony Roberts MBE, as well as a number of other key figures.
Initial groundwork has already taken place at the site just behind the Newark Sports and Fitness Centre on Bowbridge Road.
When finished - expected to be by summer 2020 - the facilities available will be: a community cafe and kitchen; athletics facilities; two 3G football pitches; three tennis courts; nursery with 80+ places aged six months to four years; art studios; music spaces with recording studios, practice rooms and edit suites; media spaces with a large central control recording and mixing studio; dance studio; skate-park; cycle track; climbing wall; meeting rooms with media facilities; large and small function rooms; health and wellbeing studios; and multi-use games areas.
The creation of the new football pitches will mean that Newark Town Football Club will move back to the town after a period of time playing their fixtures in Collingham.
Newark Athletics Club are also set to benefit from a full-size running track and facilities endorsed by England Athletics.
Images: Newark and Sherwood YMCA
To hear what the YMCA, our Mayor and local sports club think to this exciting news, watch the video here:
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