A Brief History of Meadowbank

Meadowbank stadium was opened in 1970 for the Commonwealth Games of the same year. The Commonwealth Games returned to Edinburgh in 1986 and Meadowbank once again hosted a number of events.

Over the years, it's uses have been varied. Football, Basketball, Track Cycling, Rugby, American Football and Athelitcs have featured heavily at the stadium. In addition, a number of open air rock concerts have taken place features artists such as Radiohead, The Pixies, The Foo Fighters and Muse.

On 13 March 2008, the City of Edinburgh Council voted to demolish the existing Meadowbank stadium and replace it with a new build. The existing Meadowbank stadium was built in the 1960 and so fails to meet the needs and expectations of many modern day sport. Due to the age and type of the building the current annual maintenance costs is around £250,000 which is unsustainable in the long term.

Initially refurbishement was considered but an independent design team confirmed it would be impossible to carry out within the current structure. The concrete building does not lend itself to upgrading and the configuration of the sports halls and stadium do not meet modern specifications of the different sports.

As a result of this meeting, Council officials were asked to commission an appraisal for this new facilty. Three options were identified which can be viewed here.

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