Work underway for new athletic track in Newport
The development of a modern athletic track for the benefit of the community of the Newport area has moved to the construction stage this week.
The arrival of heavy machinery on to the site at the rear of the Boys National School, Rockvale Road has been described as “exciting news for all the community” by members of Newport Athletic Club.
The sod turning ceremony has been performed by Sharlene Mawdsley, international athlete, and member of Newport Athletic Club, who has brought great honour to the club by her achievements over the past decade.
The athletic track development has been worked on for a number of years by a group of volunteers in the community, Newport Community Project, with the vision to develop a fantastic sports facility for all in the locality.
Estimated to cost €350,000 to complete, various forms of fundraising supported by the community have been ongoing for some time. The committee behind the venture confirm that the proceeds are now at €240,000.
The development, which is the first of its kind in Newport, will include a new 200m four lane running track, 60m six lane sprint track, 60m x 30m 4G astro turf pitch and a public walkway along the perimeter of the site.
The facility will be floodlit with energy efficient LED lighting and once complete will be made available to all within the local community through a transparent online booking system.
The community has been very supportive of the development to date and last May two local men, John Savage and Darren Bourke, undertook the mammoth task of doing a Covid Restriction marathon, aptly named ‘The Nine Newport Loops’ around the famous walking loop of Newport Town. The initiative created great community spirit around the area during these very uncertain times with everyone out to give them a cheer or to run a socially distanced loop with them.
Both Darren and John, neighbours from Hillcrest Manor, are well accustomed to running the length and breadth of Newport at this stage. Darren is a former Limerick footballer who took up marathon running in 2017, while John only took up running in late 2018 and they have since completed eight and five marathons respectively.
Their ‘Nine Newport Loops’ raised €2,623 which they donated for the track development and Newport Community Project would like to sincerely thank them for their support.
A further fundraiser will be launched soon to assist with bridging the outstanding gap in the funds to see the finalisation of this project in the form of ‘Sponsor a metre’.
Further information on this will be announced in the near future and as always community support will be greatly appreciated.