The new Meadowbank Sports Centre is set to host the vote count for this year’s council election.

At a meeting last week, council leader Adam McVey said the redeveloped facility will be “a real jewel in the crown of sporting facilities right across our city” when it opens later this year. 

The new £49 million sports complex – the completion of which has been delayed by a year due to the pandemic and construction issues – will include games halls, two artificial football pitches and a state-of-the-art gym and a brand new outdoor running track.

Cllr McVey said it is intended it will be the venue of choice for Edinburgh’s 2022 local election vote count on 5 and 6 May 2022.

“Councillor Day and I visited Meadowbank and I have to say to members with any luck we will manage to get Meadowbank used as the venue for our count with any luck and hope,” he told councillors at last week’s council meeting.

“But it is an exceptional facility for the people of Edinburgh, the Meadowbank Sports Centre will be a real jewel in the crown of sporting facilities right across our city and I’m sure members will be as blown away as I was when we visited it and it’s incredibly near completion.”

The City of Edinburgh Council is yet to announce a revised official opening date for the centre, however Councillor McVey’s announcement that it could be used for the elections in May suggests it will be ready by summer.

The original Meadowbank, which was built to host the 1970 Commonwealth Games, closed for demolition and rebuilding in 2017.

A council spokesperson said that once opened, Edinburgh’s new Meadowbank will be “one of the country’s top community sports centres”, featuring “some of the most state-of-the-art fitness facilities in Britain”.

by Donald Turvill, Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency: funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector, and used by qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.

Meadowbank. Photo: © 2021, Martin P. McAdam www.martinmcadam.com
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The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.