Plans for a £1 million sports hub in Glenrothes are to be kickstarted by a new fundraising campaign.
Kenny Crichton, chairman of Glenrothes Cricket Club, admits raising funding for the complex at Gilvenbank Park will be challenging, but he is optimistic the club can realise its dream of opening state-of-the-art sports facilities in the north of the town.
Drawings of the site, incorporating a cricket field, football pitches and pavilion, have also been released to coincide with the launch of the new online crowdfunding initiative.
Mr Crichton told The Courier that public support will be crucial.
He said: “We’ve got some funding already and Fife Council have been very supportive, so we just need SportScotland to come on stream.
“We’ve had initial discussions with them already but we would need to fund any social areas of the hub ourselves.”
In order for SportScotland to contribute to the project, a significant amount of funding needs to be raised by the club itself.
The agency has already helped to fund sports and health initiatives in Glenrothes recently, including a new football academy due to be built at the Michael Woods Leisure Centre, and a new pavilion at Overstenton Park, home of Glenrothes Strollers football team.
Though the club is backed by Fife Council and the North Glenrothes Community Council, Mr Crichton is hopeful that residents of Glenrothes will also support it in its aim to bring some much needed sports facilities to the north of the town.
“It’s quite a challenge but we’re very positive about achieving our target,” he continued.
“It has taken time to get this far but Gilvenbank Park is in great need of sports facilities. A lot of people are unaware of how big it is it’s a massive area.
“We would love to have something in place for next spring but we are aware that it took Glenrothes Strollers five years to get to where they are, so we’ll see.”