Countdown to big opening of town’s £1 million pavilion

CHANCE TO WATCH SHROVETIDE FROM ITS PATIO

ASHBOURNE’S million pound Pavilion in the Park is finally set to open this month.

The project has seen a group of volunteers gathering in support from local and national funding partners to replace the former Memorial Pavilion, which has now been demolished to make way for a cutting-edge replacement.

And the new building will be opening officially on Friday, February 25, ready to be used straight away and host its first visitors.

Ashbourne Sports and Community Partnership took just 18 months to pull in the grants, hand-outs, sponsorship and donations to achieve their dream of providing a new venue that will help to transform the fortunes of a wide sector of sporting teams and clubs.

The building, which overlooks the recreation ground pitches and links up with Cokayne Avenue Car Park, was masterminded by the partnership’s volunteers, who worked closely with Derbyshire Dales District Council and Ashbourne Town Council.

Major funding partners have included the Football Foundation, England and Wales Cricket Board and Severn Trent Water Community Fund.

The new facility has already been chosen as the Derbyshire Dales Council for Voluntary Service’s Project of the Year award last year.

The Pavilion was built by Ashbourne firm Enrok Construction Ltd and provides four quality changing rooms for local sports clubs which are designed to increase participation in sport, particularly for girls and women. A spokesman for the partnership explained: “It is a complete transformation to what local residents had to experience in the last days of the old Memorial Pavilion. “In fact it is a Centre of Excellence for sport in Ashbourne and adjacent villages in the south of the District and is something that Ashbourne has deserved for years.”

The new building will also serve as a “community hub”, with a new bar and a panoramic view from its large patio, which looks out across the Henmore Valley.

It will also include a digital learning centre, and will be available for hire for community activities.

Among its first customers will be Ashbourne Community Cinema, which has built up a strong following by screeing blockbuster movies at St John’s Church.

The first film to be screened at the new pavilion is booked in for March, with details to be announced soon.

The Pavilion in the Park will be also open for Shrovetide, and followers will be able to watch the game if it heads towards Sturston from the extended patio.

Pizzas will be on offer, baked in the facility’s wood-fired pizza oven.

To find out more about the Pavilion in the Park, including hiring the community room, call David Wood on 07943 455824.