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Official: The end of Scarborough FC stadium - COMMENT ON THIS STORY
FOOTBALL will never be played at the former McCain Stadium again, it has been confirmed.
The news comes after Scarborough council chiefs met with "potential partners" to discuss the development of a sports village on the Weaponness Valley coach park.
A feasibility study carried out by the local authority makes it clear the Seamer Road ground has finally been written out of the town's sporting history despite all hopes.
The study showed it would require 600,000 to get the former Boro home back to a usable condition – but the council has decided that even after splashing out the cash, the ground would be unsustainable and the money would be better spent elsewhere. The council has ambitious plans to build a sports village with the next five years.
The village would include a new base for Scarborough Athletic FC, currently playing its home matches in Bridlington, and house the council's sports facilities.
The current council-run sports provision – the sports centre and indoor pool – are out of date and badly in need of repairs running well into six figures, replacing the sports centre's leaking roof would cost 250,000 alone.
Attendances are dropping at both venues and by September this year they had already made 31,000 less than expected in 2009.
As well as Scarborough councillors, representatives from local health trusts, George Pindar Community Sports College and a council-employed consultancy firm, attended the meeting.
Cllr Andrew Backhouse said: "The talks were positive. The hospital said they want to expand the provision of services they offer but they had no scope to do so at the present site. The idea at the moment is to centralise and look at the long-term prospects for a sports village.
"The consultants were given a very broad brief, so there was a lot discussed. They've now listened to us and will come back to us once they've taken our ideas into account."
The new venue looks to be a long way off however – at a recent meeting with the council, representatives of Scarborough Athletic were told that, at this stage, it is impossible to give a firm date for when a new stadium was likely to be ready.
The council still needs to carry out consultation with interested parties, firm up agreements with potential partners and undergo the tendering process.
Once a developer has been selected it is expected that the building work will take around 18 months.
Athletic's new chairman Richard Adamson said: "Obviously we would like to get back to Scarborough as soon as possible but we want also to get back in somewhere where we can afford to run and grow as a club.
"I honestly believe the council will deliver something for us. Personally I'd like it to be next month but we must be pragmatic – as long as we end up with something sustainable and suitable I'm prepared to wait."
* Three houses outside the Boro stadium are currently for sale, but that is believed to be unconnected to the ground move.
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Weather for Scarborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
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