The velodrome in Los Angeles is a shared cycling and badminton facility, just like the exciting project now edging closer for west Dublin after big news today.
Brian Canty
A contract has been signed between the National Sports Campus Development Authority and Tobin Consulting Engineers to bring a velodrome at Abbostown in west Dublin to the planning stage.
The news comes just days after Ireland secured three medals at the European Junior& U23 Track Championships in Portugal.
The planning stage of the project will hopefully be followed by its construction, at which stage Ireland will finally have an international standard indoor velodrome.
“It was coming for a while,” explained Cycling Ireland president Denis Toomey of today’s planning contract announcement.
He believed the development was timely, coming so soon after the Europeans which had proven to him what could be achieved with the proper development structures in place, even without an indoor track.
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“We’ll be able to bring a lot more riders into the programme with a velodrome and at the moment we’re looking at the end of October by the time the planning is done,” he said.
The velodrome will also be the headquarters of Badminton Ireland, who will have 16 courts in the centre of the 250 metre banked indoor track.
The fantastic success of riders like world beater Martyn Irvine has made the case for a velodrom overwhelming, and without them Cycling Ireland would be fighting a much tougher battle.
Toomey suggested it could be the end of next year when the project is completed, with Cycling Ireland at the mercy of the government for the bulk of the funding needed to complete the track and new headquarters for the federation.
“It’s all down to when the money will be released for construction,” he said.
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While the details of where the cash would come from have not been fully agreed, Toomey said while the State would be the main funder, both Cycling Ireland and Badminton Ireland would be required to make a contribution.
“I’d be very confident we’ll get support from our members and come up with what we need to come up with,” Toomey said of that section of the funding that must be generated by the federation.
“There has been no opposition. At the start there was potentially three velodromes being built but two have gone off the radar so we’re back to Abbotstown. And that’s the right place to have it in my view, with all the other governing bodies.”
The Abbottstown campus is being developed as a hub for a wide range of sports.
Toomey continued: “It’s a great day for us. It’s 15 to 20 minutes from the airport, it’s a perfect location from all sides. You also have the Institute of Sport nearby so it’s great to be there.”
He believes that once the money is put in place and the velodrome built, as well as the obvious advantages of having a first class training and racing facility at Cycling Ireland’s disposal, it could save the governing body up to €250,000 per year.
“Last year, the training side alone probably cost us a quarter of a million. At the moment we’ve a men’s and women’s pursuit team, a house in Majorca rented year round, the track rented year round there, and the different squads flying in and out. So that’s not cheap.
“We’ll save an awful lot of money by keeping these guys at home and open the track up to more people as well.”
Chief executive of the National Sports Campus, David Conway said said: “Commencing the preliminary stages of development of the National Velodrome and Badminton Centre is another key milestone for the campus and country.”
Coming as it does after a period in which Ireland has become considerably more successful on the track, the new velodrome has the potential to take Irish riders to the next level and develop all aspects of the sport as a strong track scene has done in nations like Great Britain and Australia.
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