Manchester Gets New National Basketball Centre; Will House Manchester Giants

Manchester, England is "set to become the nation’s basketball capital" with the creation of the new Belle Vue Sports Village, according to Anthony Jepson of the MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS. The British Basketball League's Manchester Giants are expected to "become tenants at the site's new National Basketball Centre." The city council "gave the go-ahead for the building of the facility as a key part of the Sports Village," which will see "an elite performance centre -- run by governing body England Basketball -- on the site." EB has committed £593,750 ($913,000) to the total cost of £2.8M ($4.3M) for the four-court facility, "which will be used for training and competition -- and will have seating for around 2,500 spectators." A new National Speedway Stadium "will also be built on the site which has been years in planning" (MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS, 4/11).