Birmingham City are hoping to move into their new Sports Quarter home in the coming years
Tom Wagner(Image: Getty Images)
Birmingham City chairman Tom Wagner has declared that the process to build the Sports Quarter within the city is now ‘running full speed ahead’ after the Government allocated £2.4bn to the West Midlands Combined Authority to spend on improving the transport infrastructure in the region.
Blues ‘ owners Knighthead are ploughing in an estimated £3bn to build the Sports Quarter, which will act as a hub not only for the club but for the city as a whole in years to come. While the completion of the work, taking place on the old Birmingham Wheels site in Bordesley Green, will still take a number of years to finish, progress is now being made.
It’s estimated that as many as 8,500 jobs will be created during the process, delivering growth to the local community and economy, and already Wagner says the number of people working to deliver the Sports Quarter is ‘incredible’. Blues will also be working hard to improve the traffic in the area, which can be very congested on a St Andrew’s matchday.
“It’s running full speed ahead,” Wagner told Blues+. “We’re in the process of final interviews for the architects. The planning process has been ongoing. There are an incredible number of people working on this full time. The big hurdle that was out of our control was transport – we got that.
“Adderley Park station will be completely rebuilt to accommodate full sized trains to literally stop in the middle of the Sports Quarter. We’ll connect central Birmingham out to our site and eventually onto the airport.
“We’ll do significant improvements on traffic and flow, so getting people in and out of the Sports Quarter will be far better than what we experience today – despite the fact that we’ll have more than double the number of people coming in and out on a daily basis. It’s not just a stadium.
“It’s a stadium, it’s a training ground for men’s, women’s and academy. We’ll have a full sized arena, we’ll have a show pitch for the women’s side. We’ll have a hotel, housing and office. It’s going to be a true hub of activity. There’ll be a lot going on and something that isn’t only a Blues attraction but a Birmingham, West Midlands and national attraction.”
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