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Plans for new Durham ice rink unveiled

Plans for a new multi-million pound leisure development have been announced which could see a permanent ice rink return to Durham for the first time since the city’s former Riverside Rink closed in the summer of 1996.

The scheme is earmarked for part of the former LG Philips site at Belmont, and will form part of the next phase of the recently created 42-acre Mandale Business Park on the outskirts of the city.

The proposed leisure complex will be centred around a 3,000-seater ice arena with an Olympic-sized ice pad and will also feature cafés, restaurants, a fitness suite and retail outlets.

County Durham Ice Foundation, the campaign group who have been lobbying for the return of an ice rink to Durham since 2002 welcomed the announcement, saying: “It’s been a long time coming, but we are delighted by the news and extremely excited by the plans for the complex. People in Durham of all ages have been crying-out for a facility like this for years, and we’re confident that the new facility will exceed a lot of people’s expectations.”

It is anticipated that up to 200 jobs could be created by the development and the developers aim to involve several local businesses as part of the scheme. It is hoped that the centre could be open for business by as early as Autumn 2009.

The announcement of the new Durham scheme comes hot on the heels of plans for an additional new ice facility to be built adjacent to Gateshead International Stadium. This would bring the region’s quota of public ice rinks once again back to four following the closure of Sunderland and Durham’s former ice rink in the 1990s.

Any comments on the scheme, suggestions or commercial interest in the development can be directed through the County Durham Ice Foundation’s website at www.cdif.org.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .