WORKINGTON TOWN are closer to a new home after the appointment of a contractor to carry out preparatory work ready for construction of the Cumberland Sports Village to start in January.
The £17.8 million facility will be the site of Borough Park, the base of Workington Football Club since 1937 and Town’s ground for the first eleven years of their existence until they built nearby Derwent Park, now the Fibrus Community Stadium, in 1956.
Now the clubs are back together, initially at the Fibrus, then the CSV which, after an additional £4.5 million funding boost from the recently-formed Cumbria Combined Authority, with a 5,000 capacity, will be larger than initially planned.
Two councils, Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness, form the combined authority, were established to drive county-wide regeneration and economic growth.
Also financed by the Government’s Towns Fund and the Football Foundation, the new stadium will have an artificial pitch and community facilities. When it is up and running, the Fibrus is expected to be demolished.
Cumbria-based Story Contracting Ltd have been appointed to carry out enabling work at the site.
Expected to take around three months, it includes the installation of site security measures, temporary fencing, the creation of a construction compound and laydown area, asbestos removal, utility diversions and disconnections and the removal of existing infrastructure and equipment, including pitch-side posts, turnstiles, floodlighting columns, seating and dug-outs.
The process to appoint a main contractor for the construction phase has begun.
Cumberland Council leader Mark Fryer said: “Cumberland Sports Village will create a modern home for Workington AFC and Workington Town RLFC, while also delivering wider opportunities for people of all ages to take part in sport and physical activity.
“The project, one of the most significant investments in sports and community infrastructure in our area, continues to make good progress.”