Cardiff Council has announced Atlantic Wharf in Cardiff Bay as its preferred site for a planned 15,000-seater indoor arena.
Initial plans show that the multi-purpose facility could be built across two sites in Atlantic Wharf, adjacent to the Cardiff Council County headquarters and the Red Dragon Centre.
A more detailed feasibility study will now take place to consider various options for the project, including the wholesale redevelopment of the entire 30-acre site to ensure the development can generate the maximum private sector funding contribution to the scheme.
Cardiff Council’s Cabinet discussed the project at length at a meeting this week, with Russell Goodway, Cabinet Member for Investment and Development, saying that the indoor arena is a “key priority” for the Welsh capital.
“Cities is where the future is being built. Cities are the economic dynamos where over 80 per cent of global GDP is generated and they compete with one another for inward investment and jobs,” Goodway said in a statement.
“If Cardiff wants to compete with other major cities then, to succeed, it needs the necessary infrastructure to secure our future and a multi-purpose indoor arena will be one of the key components of Cardiff’s future economic success.”
Goodway also said that Cardiff Council will consider transport links to the new venue, as well as the impact it will have on traffic in the surrounding area.
“Traffic and transport is a major challenge for people living in and visiting Cardiff,” he said. “A viable, high quality public transport service needs regular paying passengers.
“The ability to attract 15,000 visitors to the city on a regular basis who arrive either at the city limits and use park and ride facilities or by train in the city centre and need to get to the Bay will provide the passenger numbers which will help make the dream of a metro system a reality and expedite the completion of the Eastern Bay Link Road.”
Goodway added: “The professional assessment concludes that for a wide variety of reasons, the preferred location for the arena is in the vicinity of Atlantic Wharf.
“It supports our development aims for the city and offers the maximum opportunity to help create a revitalised visitor destination place in the Bay which connects directly to existing facilities at the Oval Basin and Mermaid Quay.”
Image: CardiffNewsRoom
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