The City of Edinburgh Council has announced that work on the new Burdiehouse/Southhouse Community Centre will start as soon as June 9.

The £2.5m centre has a completion date of Spring 2009. Funded through the Capital Investment Programme the centre will be built by John Dennis and Company.

Located on Southhouse Road, the centre will comprise of a main hall which can be used for sports or events, a café, a crèche facility, an IT Learning Suite, a dance studio, a games room, meeting rooms and an arts and craft room. There will also be a room that can be used by visiting healthcare practitioners and an office space that can be rented by community groups. With a modern design, the building will be light and airy with a spacious feel.

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Cllr Marilyne MacLaren, Convener for Education, Children and Families said: "I am delighted that we have an early start date for the construction of the new community centre. The local community have been waiting for this new centre for some time, following the withdrawal of the previous contractor, so I’m sure they will be pleased to hear work is due to begin.

"The centre will provide the area with an excellent facility, replacing an older building which was no longer fit for purpose and I’m sure it will be very popular with all ages and sections of the community."

Helen McNeill, Chairperson of the Management Committee at Burdiehouse/Southhouse Community Centre said: "Our community has been much in need of this new facility and we in the management committee are glad to see it finally going ahead. It will represent a great asset to our area. We would like to thank all the local people and councilors who have helped campaign to get the centre back on track."

(GK)