Dundee is continuing to make the early running with its bid for the national performance centre for sport by organising a public information event for the ambitious £30 million venture.
A drop-in session is being held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel next week for the public to study the details of the project and question the architects.
The session is being held less than a mile from the site at Camperdown Park, where the city council want to build the multi-sports performance centre, including a national football academy, to support Scotland’s sportsmen and women in reaching their full potential.
An announcement is due from the Scottish Government about whether the facility will go to Dundee, Stirling or Edinburgh.
Without waiting to see if Dundee will be chosen, the city council has submitted a planning application for the project and has tendered a proposal of application notice.
As part of the latter exercise, it is holding a public drop-in session as a consultation event at the DoubleTree on July 24 from 4-8pm.
A council spokesman said: “This proposal of application notice means that Dundee’s vision for the national performance centre for sport would be open for business in 2016, as required by the Scottish Government, if the city’s bid is successful.
“Dundee’s bid steering group want to ensure that the appropriate planning procedures are being followed so that the city can deliver the centre on time.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The steering group are currently in the process of reviewing the three bids and will shortly be visiting each area to help inform their decision. We expect a decision to be taken this summer.”
Dundee has also launched a website www.dundeesportcity.com, to encourage Dundonians to back the bid for the national performance centre.
The centre in the South East corner of Camperdown Park will cater for elite performers and will be available to local leagues and clubs.
There will be a floodlit third-generation synthetic grass training pitch and a floodlit natural grass Hampden-sized high-quality pitch for football, with seating for 500.
There will also be three floodlit natural grass match pitches for football, two natural grass training pitches, goalkeeper training areas, five-a-side pitches and the potential for tennis courts.
Indoors there will be a full-size indoor 3G synthetic grass pitch for football and other sports, with seating for 500 and a nine badminton court-size sports hall with seating for 500.
Other aspects include fitness, strength and conditioning provision, a health and wellbeing facility, a sports science suite, office and meeting rooms for Scottish sports governing bodies, a 200-seat lecture theatre and a three or four star hotel.
Dundee City Council is to invest £5 million in the project, which will also benefit from a £25 million grant from the Scottish Government.