Games aim to reverse ‘substantial’ stadium loss
ALEXANDER Stadium is losing significant amounts of money for the city council, prompting hopes the Commonwealth Games will secure its future.
The venue at Walsall Road, Perry Barr, is to be the focal point of the 2022 showpiece event hosting the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics competition.
The current capacity of 12,700 will also be significantly increased, to 40,000 temporarily for the Games and 20,000 permanently afterwards.
But at the moment it is running at a ‘substantial net loss’ according to a report which went before the cabinet on Tuesday as they approved the ‘outline’ business case for its redevelopment.
The council had intended to outsource management of the stadium to cut down overheads but was forced to put the move on hold when it emerged it was to play an integral role in the games.
It meant the stadium cost the council £1.3m more than originally planned in 2017/18 with further ‘cost pressures’ of £1.1m a year anticipated for the next four years until after the Games when chiefs will revisit the idea of letting it out to an external provider.
But council bosses are hoping its redevelopment will not only make it sustainable but cement its place as a major national athletics venue.
It already serves as the administrative home for UK Athletics, English Athletics, the West Midlands English Institute of Sport and the internationally acclaimed Birchfield Harriers.
Three of the four stands will be demolished and rebuilt for the Commonwealth Games, whilst a new 400m six-lane running track will be installed at the High Performance Centre on the site.
The cabinet approved £2.66m to be spent on working up the full business case for the redevelopment, while Sport England has provided a £50,000 grant towards drafting a separate masterplan which will focus on the stadium’s future use, including its highways and transportation requirements.
The latter will also account for the development of the athletes village to be built at the former university campus in Perry Barr which will be converted into more than 1,000 homes after the games.
Council leader Ian Ward said: “It’s important to produce a stadium that works for people inside it and the wider area around it. We have got to ensure we can get people in and out during the Games but we also need to make sure what we are left with is something that will become a national stadium for athletics in the UK.”