SPORTING SUCCESS FOR CHANDLERKBS

Wales’ leading cost and project management consultancy, ChandlerKBS is providing cost advice on the £700m International Sports Village, the latest phase of which is an Olympic standard Canoe Slalom.

The Canoe Slalom will form part of the International Sports Village and is due to be opened in December 2009 ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games.  Currently contractors, Dean and Dyball are on site and have started driving piles, which will help segregate the new course from the river.

The £12.5m centre is one of eight facilities the Sports Village will be able to offer once completed. Currently on site are residential buildings, a temporary ice rink and the Olympic swimming pool and in the next 5-10 years the Village aims to be home to a ski slope, a permanent ice rink, restaurants, cinema and family entertainment and sports retail outlets.

Don Merrifield, partner at ChandlerKBS said: “Our links with the International Sports Village have positioned us as a key player in the sports and leisure market in Wales and the UK . The Canoe Centre is a very exciting project to be involved in, it is something completely new to South Wales, and it isn’t every day that you get the opportunity to be involved in an Olympic standard canoe slalom.”

The International Sports Village is expected to attract 3.5 million visitors annually with an anticipated spend of £270 million. The completed village will provide up to 5,000 jobs and create an additional 2,500 jobs within the region.

Don continued: “The whole programme is a major part of a continuing regeneration strategy and will transform a former brown field industrial site into an international destination. There is a lot of work to be done to make the canoe centre ready for use, from profiling of the land to build up the course, and building changing and spectator facilities. It is a very exciting time for the sporting community in South Wales.”