Morgan Sindall has won the £5 million contract to construct the first youth centre built in Birmingham in more than five years.
St Modwen has appointed the construction firm to build Birmingham City Council’s new three-storey myplace centre at Longbridge.
Building and work is now underway with the flagship youth centre scheduled to open in summer 2012. The 17,000 sq ft centre will provide a wide range of innovative and much-needed services to 13 to 19 year-olds in the Longbridge area.
Mark Batchelor, construction manager for St Modwen, said: “Longbridge is a hub of activity with the new Bournville College nearing completion, 115 houses and apartments being constructed at the Park View scheme, myplace now under way, and we are also working towards construction work commencing on the new £70 million Longbridge town centre.
“Within the range of facilities that we are creating at Longbridge, it is tremendous that a flagship youth centre for Birmingham is part of the mix. Many teenagers are not aware of the collapse of MG Rover nearly a decade ago and simply see Longbridge as a place of significant development activity and new opportunities, which is a great vote of confidence for what we are delivering here.”
The development of the new youth centre has been made possible through a council-secured grant from the Government’s myplace programme, which is funded through the Department of Education and administered through the BIG Lottery scheme, to invest in state-of-the-art facilities for young people across the UK.
Councillor Les Lawrence, cabinet member for children, young people and families for Birmingham City Council, said: “The myplace centre will address the lack of dedicated facilities for young people in south west Birmingham and it will be a fantastic focal point of activities for local 13 – 19 year olds. The location of the site was chosen for its proximity to the new £66 million Bournville College campus, Longbridge train station and the site for the new town centre development, maximising accessibility and opportunity.”
