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New plans for old Don Valley Stadium site

Sheffield Eagles have announced plans to return to the site of the old Don Valley Stadium in a new state-of-the-art community stadium.

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'Olympic Legacy Park' to rise out of Don Valley rubble

Plans for a new £50 million community sports park in Sheffield were unveiled today.

It will be known as the Olympic Legacy Park, and will be built on the site of the old Don Valley Stadium. It is hoped it will be fully operational in early 2016. ITV Calendar reporter Chris Dawkes reports:

Sheffield Eagles to return to site of old Don Valley Stadium

Olympic Park Legacy Park

Sheffield Eagles have announced they will be returning to the site of the old Don Valley Stadium when they move into a new community stadium in the Olympic Legacy Park.

The Eagles have secured a £6m investment to fund the building of stadium, which will feature a high quality synthetic pitch, an impressive main stand, a 50-bed hotel, catering and hospitality areas, and facilities developed in partnership with Sheffield’s second University Technical College.

Plans for the new Legacy Park are well advanced and the first phase of the re-development is already underway with the building of a new through school catering for children from 2 to 16 years. The school will open its Primary phase in September 2015, with the second phase opening a year later.

At the same time, Sheffield’s second University Technical College (UTC) will open on the same site, specialising in human sciences and digital technologies.

Olympic Park Legacy Park

When we heard that Don Valley was to close we realised that this could be a terminal blow to Sheffield Eagles as a club, but we have always had to work hard against the odds to survive, so we rolled up our sleeves, thought creatively and formed partnerships with others who have shared a common vision of securing a long term legacy in sport, health and well-being for the site.

At first many said that it was just a pipe dream that would never happen, but we had to make it happen if Eagles were to survive and thrive in Sheffield and the game of Rugby League not be lost to this great city. We have worked with some remarkably talented and visionary people on this project and it is an outstanding testament to what can be achieved by genuine partnership working.

The new stadium will be like no other in this country, in that it will be designed and managed to have multiple uses that reflect the needs of the broader community as well as being a top class facility for performance rugby of both codes. Unlike many sports stadia that has limited uses this one will be constantly in use - for educational and research purposes, community activities, sports development and health and well being support, as well as a venue for professional rugby - and Sheffield Eagles are proud to be part of that as a true community club.

– Ian Anniss, Sheffield Eagles Director of Community, Development and Education
Olympic Park Legacy Park

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