£90m centre takes shape beside Lagan

A new development combining sports, leisure and education facilities, is taking shape on the east bank of the River Lagan, close to Belfast's city centre. It is the largest such development ever undertaken in Northern Ireland, and includes Ireland's only indoor sports arena.

The £90 million sterling Odyssey Centre will radically change the face of Belfast's docklands. The 600,000 square foot complex, with parking space for 1,500 cars, is being constructed as part of a joint venture between two of Northern Ireland's leading construction companies, Farrans and Gilbert Ash.

It comprises a 10,000-seat arena, a science centre, an IMAX theatre, and an entertainment and leisure pavilion, including a 12-screen multiplex cinema, bars and restaurants, making Odyssey one of Ireland's largest entertainment and leisure projects. The arena, which is the centrepiece of the complex, is due to open in December with a series of high-profile events, including a concert by the popular boy band, Five. As well as providing a new concert venue, the arena will be used for boxing, tennis and indoor soccer.

A 200-metre hydraulic running track, capable of hosting international indoor athletics, is also being installed. From the beginning of December, it will be home to Northern Ireland's first professional ice hockey team, the Belfast Giants, who will play 20 home matches in the UK Superleague competition. The American management company SMG has already signed a 10-year contract to run the arena section of the complex, and arena architects Marshall Haines Barrow believe that it is a model for arenas of the future. Since work on the Odyssey site on Queen's Quay got under way in 1998, almost 1,200 people have worked on the project, and there will be 600 new jobs when the complex is completed in the summer of 2001.

Mr Tom Fanning, the chief executive of the Odyssey Trust, which was set up to oversee the completion of the project, says that in terms of scale, the Odyssey is one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken in Northern Ireland, and among the top three in Europe. The 23-acre site, which is on the east bank of the Lagan, is within walking distance of the city centre. It continues the transformation of Belfast's riverside landscape, which has already involved the construction of a new weir and the regeneration of a number of derelict sites along the river.