AN IMPORTANT milestone in the Spòrsnis project was reached last Monday (5 April) with the delivery of the tender documents to all the interested contractors. The detailed plans and specifications were produced by the Comhairle’s Technical Services Consultancy along with Anderson Associates Architects, under the guidance of Neil Ferguson. It is
expected that tender documents will be returned by 30 April with an anticipated site start of Monday 31 May.
The facility is the largest capital project ever to come to Ness and features an 18 x 27 metre multi-purpose hall, a ten-pin bowling area, fitness suite and sauna, child care and play facilities and community learning and resource areas.
At the Spòrsnis AGM on 26 March, chairman Calum I Macleod thanked the Committee for their continuing hard work on the project and paid particular thanks to Carola Bell, Project Officer, and the other members of the Sporsnis/Design Team Working Group who had overseen the technical aspects of the project over the past few months. He paid tribute to officers at both Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Iomairt nan Eilean Siar for their continuing support and to other main funders for getting the project to this stage. He paid particular thanks to the local community which had been so supportive over the years. On the financial front, over the past year, there had been individual anonymous donations of £10,000 and £5,000 as well as a donation of £2,000 from Ness Football Club. There had also been donations from various other charitable organisations.
He said: “We are now on the threshold of meeting the aspirations of both committee and community following the inaugural public meeting of sporsnis in June 1995. I am confident that, what started off that night as a dream will, over the next 18 months, become a reality and that we will have a first class, state-of-the-art facility.”
Because of financial constraints, fitting out of some of the spaces, including the bowling alley and the fitness suite are not currently included in the first building phase. It is however hoped that local fundraising will continue and will enable these facilities to be completed at the same time as the main contract. Several key fundraising events have already been planned for the coming weeks and months. The Chairman urged all members of the community to have one last push at fundraising, and to support future
events to ensure that all facilities be included on the opening day, hopefully in autumn 2005.
The following were elected to the Committee for the coming year:
Chairman – CI Macleod,
Vice-Chairman – DA Morrison,
Secretary – IG Macdonald,
Treasurer – C Maclean
Committee Members – I Gillies, N Thomson, P Murray, A Morrison, JM Macfarlane, KA Campbell, N Finlayson
