A multi-million-pound centre of sporting excellence has opened its doors in Perth.
The new academy at the city’s college is poised to become a springboard for a future generations of professional athletes.
Perth College bosses are hoping to harness the legacy of the Olympics and attract Scottish teams preparing for Tokyo 2020.
They have already been approached by several national organisations hoping to use the new centre for training.
The £6.5 million Academy of Sport and Wellbeing has been built in the grounds of the main college campus, off Crieff Road.
The building offers students a variety of training rooms with top-of-the-range equipment, as well as a multi-function gym hall the size of six badminton courts.
The Courier has been given an early look at the new facilities, which were designed with input from a range of sports’ national governing bodies.
The academy – which was dubbed “amazing” by college student and silver medal-winning Olympian Stephen Milne – also features extensive facilities for hairdressing and beauty therapy students, as well as six new classrooms.
Gareth McKenna, commercial manager for the new academy said: “There is no doubt that this is going to help the college grow.
“Before I came to Perth, I was at Northumberland where they invested millions into their sports facilities. As a result, the number of students there rose dramatically and I believe that is what we’re going to see happen here.
“We want to be seen as one of the country’s best colleges and it’s this kind of investment that will drive this forward.”
Proposals have been in the pipeline for about six years, but were only unveiled to the public in late 2014 when principal Margaret Munckton said that the plans were largely influenced by the success of the Commonwealth Games.
The project was mostly paid for by the college itself with extra funding from outside partners and sporting bodies.
The whole building has been designed to be fully inclusive and accessible for all abilities. The gym hall has bleacher seating for about 400 people, as well as an electronic scoring system, for spectator events.
There are also plans to buy new equipment including a multi-functional training structure, allowing students to try their hand at a new range of fitness challenges.
All the new equipment has been set up to work with smart technology, including Fitbit fitness trackers, so that users can keep a check on how many calories they’re burning.
Local MP Pete Wishart said the new facility will bring major benefits to the college and the wider community.
“I am very pleased to see the progress that has been made with this fantastic new facility at Perth College UHI,” he said. “I hope that this will help to build on the already outstanding performance of Perth and Kinross athletes who participated in the recent Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“This outstanding facility will not only bring benefits for existing students and staff but has the potential to provide wider community benefit. I hope that this will also help to attract new students to the Fair City as there will be many exciting new academic opportunities open to students in Perth”.
