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COUNCILLORS will be asked this week to approve a further £130,000 being spent on new floodlights at the Melvin Arena in Strabane.
Derry City and Strabane District Council has already allocated £255,000 of its budget for the floodlights. However, it has emerged an additional £130,000 is needed to make the project a reality.
The plans will be discussed at a special council meeting on Thursday, where councillors will be asked to approve the extra money being allocated from the council’s capital funding budget.
This comes just a week after the biggest game in Strabane Athletic’s history had to be moved because of the lack floodlights at their Melvin base.
The club had been drawn to play Belfast giants Glentoran in the Irish Cup.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at the Melvin Arena on Saturday, January 17, but was called off after the pitch was deemed unplayable because of the weather.
The replay was organised for last Tuesday, January 20. However, because it was an evening game and Melvin does not have floodlights, the match was switched to Glentoran’s Oval ground in east Belfast.
Strabane lost the replay 4-0.
Officials at Strabane Athletic said they were ‘gutted’ that the glamour fixture had to be moved from their home ground.
A council report prepared for Thursday’s meeting said a number of improvements were completed at the Melvin Arena in 2021, including new team-changing facilities, referee accommodation, turnstiles, covered spectator seating and enhanced car parking.
However, the report stated floodlights were not installed at that time due to ‘budget constraints’.
In relation to the new plan to install floodlights at the arena, the council report estimated the overall cost will be £385,000, including construction works, professional fees, charges, inflation and a contingency sum.
The report also stated a suggested number of other improvements to Melvin Arena’s facilities, separate from the new floodlights, could cost ‘in excess of £1m’.
These would include the lengthening of the pitch, an extension to the covered stand, additional toilets, a board room and press facilities.
The report added that council officers have compiled a ‘very preliminary estimate’ of the additional stadium facilities, but will undertake a ‘more detailed cost examination’ of the new proposed facilities.
