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Work Commences on £20 Million Sports Centre destined to make the University of East London number one for sport

Thursday 30 September 2010

Djo Lema and the rest of Team UEL at the Sport Centre works

On the day of the Olympic Park deadline UEL, a key partner in the joint West Ham United and Newham Council bid for use of the stadium after the games, officially began the building of the brand new £20million sports centre at the University of East London’s Docklands campus.

The beginning of work on the project, which will take until 2012 to complete, was celebrated with a commemorative ‘turning of the first turf’ today with the University Vice Chancellor, Professor Patrick McGhee, UEL's Director of Sport, David Cosford, and a gathering of the University’s top international athletes.

Athletes who attended the celebration included UK Mixed Martial Arts Champion Djo Lema, Paralympic powerlifter Ali Jawad and international rowing star John Collins along with members of the England basketball team.

The centre, which is being built on an area of scrubland on the Eastern edge of the University’s Docklands campus, may not be much to look at yet, but once complete, will feature state-of-the-art facilities including a gym and fitness suite, a large indoor sports arena, ten badminton courts, two competition basketball courts, volleyball and netball courts, cricket bays, two five-a-side football pitches, a sports café and covered seating for 400 people.

The centre will open in early 2012 in plenty of time for the London Olympic and Paralympic games, when it will be used by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) as its primary base for athlete performance services and logistical operations. More than 1,000 athletes, coaches, scientists, medical practitioners and support staff will use the facilities in this unique partnership.

However, the University is also working closely with the Olympic Park Legacy Company to ensure that it is the local community that truly benefits from the project in the long term, encouraging community groups, schools, sports clubs and people who live locally to come and enjoy these superb facilities for many years to come.

Professor Patrick McGhee, Vice Chancellor, said: "Our goal is for UEL to be recognised as the number one university for sport in London. Our commitment to this momentous building project is indicative of how seriously we take this ambition and how fully we intend to realise it".

David Cosford, Director of Sport at UEL, said: "It is exciting to see work commence on our new sports centre. When it opens in 2012 it will put the University at the forefront of sport in Higher Education and serve as a flagship facility for both the University and the local area".

The site contractor is Denne Construction, part of the Leadbitter Group.

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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