The Brickfields athletics track and field facility in Devonport has reopened following a £700,000 upgrade.

Smith Construction recently joined Plymouth City Council in a small, socially distanced photo shoot to celebrate the handover of their newly refurbished athletics track at Brickfields Sports Centre in Plymouth. 

Forming a key part of the Community Sports Complex, The 400m track at Brickfields was totally re-laid and the long jump, high jump, shot put, throwing cage and water jump have all been refurbished to provide competition standard polymeric facilities. The works included base construction on the track to correct the surface levels and the surrounding edgings were reformed to meet competition standards.

Councillor Peter Smith met up with Jeanette Munton from Smith Construction, Peter Crutchley, Chairman of City of Plymouth Athletics Club, Keith Reed from the Armarda Athletics Network and Ben Blundy of Everyone Active to mark the completion of the facility.

In current times, more than ever, it is vital to stay fit and healthy. Providing open safe places for sport such as the Brickfields track helps to support people to keep active. The completion of Brickfields Track is the latest in a host of projects that Plymouth City Council are delivering to breathe new life in to the city’s sports facilities.

Councillor Peter Smith commented to say “I’m delighted that Plymouth can once again boast a high-quality athletics venue, following these major improvement works. It’s not just for super-fit club runners and athletes – it’s a facility that everyone can use.

“We will continue to work with Everyone Active to develop a year-round activity programme that not only supports local clubs and athletes but also includes activities that promote health and wellbeing for all.”

Peter Crutchley added “We would like to thank Smith Construction and Plymouth City Council for the refurbishment of the Brickfields track and field facility. It is now a really high-quality arena that everyone can use, come rain or shine. We hope that local organisations, schools and other community groups will utilise these facilities going forward”.  

Ken Smith Managing Director of Smith Construction said, after delivering the newly surfaced track, “Supporting the local community has been at the heart of the development and the site team have embraced Government covid-19 safe working guidance to continue delivering this vital project. The team are delighted to have worked on the track at Plymouth to create a facility that will benefit the club and community for years to come.”

After almost ten years of planning, Bourne Grammar School in Lincolnshire, are proud to announce they have a brand new sand-dressed Multi-use Games pitch. The new facility will provide “all-weather” training and games for football, hockey, 5-a-side, tennis and almost all other sports.

Heckington based Smith Construction were delighted to be selected for the design and build project following a competitive tender process. The project was due to start at the end of March, just as the COVID 19 lockdown was announced.

The company worked closely with the school to ensure safe working arrangements were in place and the project went ahead a couple of weeks later. The contract was successfully completed in 10 weeks.

The new pitch is located between the science block and the athletics run-up and jump pit. It has a spectator viewing area for staff, coaches and students, where they can gather ready for their game and for parents to come to watch the match.

The playing surface installed is Tigerturf Evo Pro, a high quality surface designed for hockey and multi-use games. The principal play area is field green and this looks fantastic with red surrounds, chosen by the school to match school colours.

The pitch is accessed via the school’s main entrance and a new hard surfaced road was installed to connect the school car park and walkway to the facility. The pitch entry gates have integral decontamination grids and boot wipers installed to ensure the pitch is kept mud free and if any sand is transferred on to players’ feet, it is retained within the pitch confines when they leave.

Bourne Grammar School Headmaster Mr Maddox said “The new pitch is superb and we can’t wait to see it being played on next term. Smith Construction were extremely efficient and professional throughout the whole project and we are very pleased with the finished facility, the workmanship is of high quality and the pitch fits perfectly onsite next to our Long Jump”

Smith Maintenance technicians will now be taking care of the playing surface, to ensure the performance characteristics are retained and to make sure it always looks at its very best for years to come.

For further information please contact Jeanette@smithsportscivils.co.uk

Great Yarmouth Charter Academy is part of the Inspiration Trust, a multi-academy trust of academies and free schools in East Anglia. Now complete, the new development by Morgan Sindall Construction has increased the academy’s capacity from 750 to 1,350, and created an additional 150 places for sixth form students.

The project involved the construction of a brand new multi-use games area (MUGA), hard play area and extra space for bicycle and car parking.

Smith Construction were delighted to have been selected by Morgan Sindall for the design and construction of the all-weather sports surfaces and have completed them on time and within budget.

Ken Smith said “It is always a pleasure to work with Morgan Sindall on their new school sites and we are pleased to have been able to provide the academy with fantastic facilities”

The sports facilities can be seen as part of the overall project in this great film from Morgan Sindall- just click on the link https://youtu.be/N4CD5IPObOo