Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Bulldozers move in on sports stadium
The controversial demolition of a sports stadium in Staffordshire was starting today at a cost of £100,000.
Cannock Stadium is being bulldozed after becoming a magnet for yobs since it closed last summer.
Work will involve pulling down the main stadium building and concrete terracing, together with removal of the floodlights, track and associated hard surfaces. The demolition work, which is being carried out by Manchester based Windmill Demolition, is expected to take one month.
An old clubhouse at the site which is about 70 metres from the main building, will remain after bats were discovered in the building.
Councillor Gordon Alcott, ward member for Cannock North, said there was still bitterness in the community about the demolition. He said: “The decision to close this was disgusting. It was a wonderful facility which put Cannock on the map.
“It will be awful to see the demolition take place. I think the people who made the decision to close this wonderful facility should be ashamed of themselves.”
Councillor Frank Allen who is also a Cannock North ward member added: “It is a really sad day.
“Everyone around here is absolutely devastated. Its demolition will totally change the landscape of the area.”
The council decided to close the athletics stadium in the summer of last year.
The stadium was the home of Cannock and Stafford Athletics Club and the club hosted a number of big athletics meetings. Now the club meets at its Stafford base.
Cannock Chase Council made a decision to demolish all the stadium buildings in December after a rise in vandalism at the site following its closure in the summer of 2008.
Jamie Summerfield, spokesman for the Cannock council said: “The contractors will begin the work today starting with the concrete terracing and then moving on to the main stadium building.
“The old clubhouse will remain because it is protected. All in all the work should take around four weeks.”
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Another disgrace that Cannock Council should hang their heads in shame for. Enjoy the 2012 Olympics folks as I can’t see Great (well it used to be!) Britian winning too many gold medals at future games if we continue to get rid of facilities like this. I hear that the number of kids attending Cannock and Stafford Athletics Club has halved since they moved all activities to Stafford (Cannock parents not having the time or are unwilling to travel further etc). Mabye I am being harsh, after all, these Local Authoritys have to get the cash from somewhere to employ 10 staff for every 1 real jon (that is sarcasm by the way!)
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When ever I see stories about the demolition of the stadium I can not believe that no one remembers that the original plan was for the under used stadium to be sold so that money could be pumped into facilities that the people of Cannock do use, such as the swimming pool and theatre. Unfortunately the opposing labout party in the council protested to this so much that the sale was blocked by central government. Thanks to party politics and bickering in our council the people of Cannock are left with no stadium and no money to enhance / repair the other facilities. Well done!
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