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Arena delayed again as council part company with contractor
Bristol Arena will not open until 2020 at the earliest after the city council parted company with the contractor appointed to build the venue.
The council had chosen Bouygues UK as their preferred builder in February 2016 but despite a new bridge to Arena Island now in place, no work has started on the site itself.
That work is now not expected to start until spring 2018 – once a new contractor is found – with the most optimistic opening time for the arena now autumn 2020, three years behind the original schedule.
is needed now More than ever
But finding a new builder is not likely to be easy. One week before Bouygues UK was officially announced as the preferred tenderer to build the £92 million, 12,000-capacity arena, it was revealed by Building.co.uk that three other bidders – Bam, Sir Robert McAlpine and Laing O’Rourke – gave up on the city council’s offer as it was considered too high risk.
Despite months of preparatory work taking place, council bosses chose not to progress to a contract with Bouygues UK to build the arena as an agreement on price could not be reached.
Bristol mayor Marvin Rees said that he remains committed to getting the arena built.
“Despite this setback it remains closer than it has ever been,” said Rees, who pledged to build the arena in his election manifesto last year.
“We have the design, the planning permission, the operator and the momentum of a successful Enterprise Zone. We also have a much better understanding of the complexities involved in bringing the building to life.
“I am disappointed that although so much work has been put in for so long, and despite recent constructive and detailed talks with Bouygues, we have simply been unable to agree on the target cost for the arena.
“We’ve tried to close the gap and have reluctantly accepted that we will not reach agreement.
“I firmly believe that we can and will build the arena Bristol deserves but this has to be for the right price. We have made a lot of progress and are now seeking an alternative contractor to build the arena as soon as possible.”
Read more: Setback for arena after plans deferred