News / Politics
Bristol Arena delayed – again
Bristol arena is now at least two years behind schedule, according to the city’s mayor Marvin Rees who said he “intends” to deliver the project by 2019.
The £93.5 million 12,000-capacity venue next to Temple Meads was originally due to open in 2017 after previous mayor George Ferguson committed council funding to the project. It was then pushed back to 2018.
Rees said in his State of the City address on Thursday that he had concerns about making the project “cost effective”.
is needed now More than ever
He confirmed to Bristol24/7 in a statement on Friday: “I intend to deliver the Arena during 2019 but until we have agreed a cost and timeframe with the preferred building contractor I can’t give a more accurate estimate.
“We have come a long way with the project and now have a site, a design, planning permission, an operator (who is already receiving interest from acts) and a preferred building contractor. However the difficult bit is ahead of us – to build it on a site neighboured by two elevated railways, a busy road, and a river, on a former diesel depot.
“We have also grown the project and are now looking at the regeneration of Temple Meads East and with that comes cost pressures and choices. An arena will bring millions of pounds of investment to the city, jobs and opportunities for our citizens but I’m very aware that great opportunities are never quick or easy.”
The arena opening date already slipped back under Ferguson’s watch from 2017 to 2018, with costs increasing by 2.5 per cent in the process.
Delays to getting planning approval earlier this year were also said to have cost the project £80,000 a week.
A new £11 million bridge from Cattle Market Road to Arena Island has already been completed.
Bristol24/7 asked the lead cabinet member for the arena, Helen Holland, to give an update via Twitter to the project this week, following a site visit with MPs, but received no response.