Premiership rugby side Wasps has "formally submitted plans" to build a £7M ($10M) training facility at the existing home of Coventry City FC’s Academy, according to Simon Gilbert of the COVENTRY TELEGRAPH.
The planning application to Coventry City Council "is the first public confirmation of the move to build a training base at the Alan Higgs Centre, in Allard Way." Wasps said that the new facility "will sit next to the existing building and will include an indoor kicking area, three outdoor training pitches, a state-of-the-art gym and a video analysis suite as well as a hydrotherapy and physiotherapy areas."
What the plans will mean for the future of Coventry City’s Academy "is unclear" -- but it would seem to put its future at the venue in doubt as initial drawings show the planned kicking area will be on the "match" pitch currently used by the Sky Blues’ youngsters. Separately from Wasps’ plans, talks are ongoing "to build an Olympic-sized swimming pool on the site which is likely to replace the existing indoor pitch at the Alan Higgs Centre currently used by the CCFC Academy." That is crucial to the Academy "as it allows year-round training"-- a requirement of retaining its current Category Two status (COVENTRY TELEGRAPH, 6/2).
