Housebuilding and construction group Galliford Try has been instructed by Gloucestershire County Cricket Club to carry out £5m of major improvements at the County Ground in Bristol.
Work at the international cricket ground in Nevil Road will include a new media centre and conference and banqueting facilities. Some 147 homes will also be built on the site by Galliford Try’s housebuilding arm Linden Homes.
The plans were approved by Bristol City Council last May in the face of fierce opposition from many local residents.
The club said the work was essential to enable the ageing ground to continue to host one-day international matches.
The club, which has been based at Nevil Road since 1889, had threatened to leave Bristol if its plans were not given the green light, with a move to Gloucester being mooted.
The housing scheme will fund the media centre and the upgrade of cricketing facilities.
The work is part of a £55m, package announced today by Galliford Try’s construction division which includes a £16.3m contract to build the 5-star Gainsborough Hotel in Bath by Malaysian conglomerate YTL, which also owns Bath-based Wessex Water. The hotel, situated in a Grade-II listed building, will have 99 bedrooms and include a health spa and conference facilities.
