Nostalgia: Since its opening at the 1970 Commonwealth Games, Meadowbank has played host to many sporting glories

Published on Saturday 24 October 2009 11:16

THE decision by the city council not to demolish or refurbish Meadowbank Stadium will be met with mixed reaction.

Local campaigners who have opposed the demolition will be delighted that for the moment no action is to be taken. But on the other side those that have been pushing for more state of the art sports facilities in the city will view it as a lost opportunity.

The decision not to do anything with the crumbling stadium has come about largely for economic reasons.

It had been hoped that by selling off part of the site for housing development that 17 million would have been raised to help fund the building of a smaller arena. But the fall in land values brought about by the recession has seen this fall to around 5m – not enough to fund the scheme.

At the moment it costs the council around 1m a year simply to keep Meadowbank wind and watertight. But it would cost around 12m to refurbish it completely. Bearing in mind that it is no longer fit for purpose this is viewed as waste of money, particularly as demolition may be the favoured option someway down the line.

The stadium was built to host the 1970 Commonwealth Games and hosted them again in 1986 when the event came to Edinburgh again

At the first Games the crowds were ecstatic as Scotland lifted four golds in track and field - Rosemary Stirling in the 800 metres, Rosemary Payne in the discus, Ian Stewart in the 5000metres and Lachie Stewart in the 10,000metres.

That success was not mirrored in 1986 when Liz Lynch (McColgan) lifted the sole athletics gold in the womens' 10,000 metres.

The venue was also home for 22 years to the famous handicap New Year Sprint, which dated form 1870, before it was moved to Musselburgh Racecourse in 1999.

Later in life the ground became home to Meadowbank Thistle when it was admitted to the Scottish Football League in 1974. The team played their home matches at Meadowbank until in 1995, the club was relocated to Livingston and renamed after that town.

Edinburgh Rugby also played its home matches at Meadowbank for several seasons until the club chose to relocate to Murrayfield.

The venue may have a proud history – but for the moment its future remains uncertain.

In the present financial climate what happens to it is likely to remain uncertain for some years to come.

But it remains an iconic Edinburgh landmark and many have fond memories of times spent there.