One of the main Commonwealth Games venues "has been unveiled after months of renovations to turn it from a football stadium into an athletics arena," according to STV. Hampden Park, usually the home of Scotland's national team and domestic cup finals, "closed its doors last year as work started to install a running track." During the Games, the stadium "will seat 44,000, returning to its 52,000 capacity at the end of the event." Olympic Gold Medalist Jessica Ennis-Hill said, "It still feels like the Hampden I know, but it's got added excitement now." According to the project team, the £14M ($23M) stadium transformation "is the first of its kind." The unveiling of the new-look Hampden "is the latest milestone in the countdown to the Games." A group of 15,000 volunteers started training for the event last week "and will be primed over the coming months for a variety of roles across divisions including press, anti-doping and transport" (STV, 3/12).
ON TRACK: The BBC reported to accommodate the running track and athletics field for Glasgow 2014, "the surface was raised" by 1.9 meters on a bed of metal stilts. It "is a unique project" which Glasgow 2014 CEO David Grevemberg has described as "innovative" and "pioneering." Eight rows of seats "have been lost because of raising the surface and the capacity of Hampden will be reduced to 44,000" for the Games. However, "the new track will be closer to the watching crowds and organisers hope this will lead to a better experience for the spectators" (BBC, 3/11). The Scotland DAILY RECORD reported Hampden "closed its doors in December and diggers moved in to remove the stadium's turf." Around 6,000 steel stilts were put in place to raise the surface, "creating the width and length required for an International Association of Athletics Federations-approved track." Glasgow 2014 Head of Venue Development Ian McKenzie said, "It's a world first ... We've to finish putting the tarmac down and the specialist running track surface itself goes down next month" (DAILY RECORD, 3/12). ITV reported a time-lapse video "showing the transformation of Hampden Park stadium ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow has been released" (ITV, 3/12).
