The new Dublin velodrome - which will be a shared facility with badminton - now has an official budget of €87 million, despite €60 million being mooted late last year.
New tendering documents related to the project also set out the reasoning around why the new centre is required. There is also now a surprisingly ambitious timetable for key events, up to and including completion and handover.
The documents state the lack of a velodrome, or international-standard badminton training facilities, in the Republic has undermined athletes' chances of success for years. The documents also suggest the real potential from the new facility is for cycling, specifically increasing the number of international track riders winning medals at major championships.
In the 'project information memorandum' compiled by Cogent Associates for the new Sport Ireland National Velodrome and Badminton Centre (NVBC) it is stated: "The all-in budget for the scheme is circa €87m inclusive of all professional fees, VAT, statutory fees, inflation."
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That budget does not include the need to buy land because the new facility is a Sport Ireland project and Sport Ireland already owns the land - on the Sport Ireland Campus, west Dublin - the centre will be built on.
In the 'key dates summary' for the cycling-badminton centre (below) it is envisaged the works contract will be awarded this July, with work commencing in August. Once the project starts, construction is expected to be rapid. 'Practical completion' is projected by March 2025 and the handover of the facility will be in May 2025, exactly two years from now.
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The tender documents add while Irish cyclists have won 49 medals at major championships in the last eight years, some 32 from track cycling, there was "potential for even greater success, in terms of track cycling in particular".
"Currently, badminton and cycling athletes must go off site or abroad for their sport-specific training," the documents state while setting out the purpose of the new facility. "This has a significant negative impact on quality of training and, probably more crucially, their ability to recover effectively.
"To have the sport-specific training facilities adjacent to the Institute would optimise the training environment for athletes in these two sports and deliver a competitive advantage to their programmes.
"With its high level of participation in cycling and a substantial tradition in road racing, Ireland has an opportunity to achieve international sporting success in track cycling. The current Olympic cycling programme provides four events with medal opportunities on the road, whereas on the track there are ten events with medal opportunities."
The documents added the cycling-badminton centre will be built on the Sport Ireland Campus as it "provides a populous catchment area from which to draw increased participation in both cycling and badminton.
"Also, being within the Sport Ireland Campus Land means the land purchase for the NVBC will not be required as sufficient space is already available at the site, which is fully serviced in terms of infrastructure."
