The Northern Irish firm McLaughlin & Harvey has won the £60m deal to redevelop Alexander Stadium ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games being held in Birmingham.
However, the cost of building the athletes village for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham is set to rise by £91.8m. The venue in Perry Barr will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as athletics events.
The city council said a “construction cost price inflation” and increased demand for building workers had helped tip the cost over the £496m budget. Its revised budget says it aims to reduce the extra £91.8m costs by £25m.
Ian Ward, leader of the Labour-run council, said the importance of the project for the 2022 Games and the city “cannot be underestimated”. It follows months of speculation over the cost of the village being built for competitors in Perry Barr.
Robert Alden, leader of the opposition Conservative group, said it “laid bare Birmingham City Council’s mismanagement of its own contribution” to the Games.
He said £7m had been removed from the cost by “reducing the number of bed spaces to “97% of that originally required”. He also criticised the Labour cabinet for making the report “exempt from call-in” which means it cannot be scrutinised by backbenchers.
Meanwhile, Jon Hunt, Liberal Democrat group leader, criticised the council over the rise, saying it was “astonishing” that the “costly and disruptive” £27.1m demolition of the nearby Perry Barr flyover was going ahead in the circumstances, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Birmingham City Council has pledged to build accommodation for up to 6,500 athletes for the 2022 games, under its host city contract.
After the event, it will be converted into 1,400 homes for sale and rent, including social and affordable housing.
This will be the third time the Commonwealth Games has been held in Britain since the turn of the century, after Manchester and Glasgow staged the event in 2002 and 2014 respectively.
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