Bosses behind a bid to build a £7m youth zone scheme claim they have secured all the cash they need and will soon submit a planning application.
Lancashire County Council is leading a project to create a purpose-built Youth Zone Plus on the corner of Bow Lane and Ringway in Preston city centre.
Once completed the centre will include a climbing wall, multi-purpose rooms, kitchen and cafe, IT facilities, a chill-out zone and outdoor sports facilities.
The committee which is behind the scheme met at Barton Grange Garden Centre in Garstang Road, Brock, on Tuesday.
Guy Topping who owns Barton Grange and is chairman of the committee, said: “We are currently drawing up the site drawings, designs and lay out for the building with a view to putting in a planning application this autumn.”
The centre will be built on a site where a number of terraced homes and shops once stood and the only remaining business, the Headstart Nursery, will be moved to a new location.
The £7m total was secured with £3m Lancashire County Council funding, £3m raised through the private sector Youth Zone board, which is made up of business leaders.
The land which is worth around £1m was also donating by the county council and its £1m-a-year running costs will be made up with 40% public sector funding, 25% from businesses, 25% from trusts and grants and 10% from users.
Mr Topping said all the funding was now in place and work would be progressing quickly with Lancashire County Council architects.
He said: “It is going very well.
“The funding for the capital is now in place and we are drawing up the designs.
“Hopefully we will start building early next year.”
Young people aged eight to 21 will be able to use the centre and disabled people up to the age of 25, for a £5 annual fee and 50p per session.
Similar Youth Zones will also be built across Lancashire with a series of new schemes announced including Lancaster, Fleetwood, Burnley and Skelmersdale which were all planned to be completed and open by 2014.
Lancashire County Councillor Mark Perks who is cabinet member for young people was unavailable for comment.
Comments