HUDDERSFIELD Town and Huddersfield Giants have revealed detailed plans for their dream of a community sports centre near the Galpharm Stadium.
The leisure centre, to be called Sporting Pride Arena, will be built inside a newly revamped Verbrook House warehouse across the river from the stadium on Leeds Road.
If Kirklees Council's planning authority give plans the green light the arena could be finished by next summer.
The refurbished warehouse will be a focal point for professional sports clubs' community activities and amateur sporting events.
The centre will house an indoor pitch, a gym, children's play area, cafes, a spectator gallery and other facilities designed to involve the community in sports.
The centre will be built and run by Sporting Pride Community Trust which incorporates Huddersfield Town's Football in the Community (HT FITC) and Huddersfield Giants in the Community (HGITC).
HT FITC officer Paul France said: "This very exciting project is fabulous news for Kirklees as a whole.
"Sporting Pride Community Trust is dedicated to providing a central hub where local clubs, including five-a-side teams and other sporting associations, can make use of first-class indoor facilities.
"The Sporting Pride Arena will be accessible to the whole community and will also put the town's two professional sports clubs at the heart of the district.
"The Giants and Town already have fantastic community schemes and this is a natural progression which will enable us to extend our work.
"It will help us to get more children into sport and will enable us to tackle more effectively current social and health issues."
Huddersfield Town's financial director, Roger Armitage, said: "The facility will give us the opportunity to broaden the services to the community provided by the two clubs with the property being so close.
"It fits in with what we want to do in the longer term. We want to involve children in sport and broaden the fan base of the clubs.
"A large number of children attend our coaching sessions and this will give us a chance to extend this and offer it to the wider community including disadvantaged children and groups."
Huddersfield Town and Giants chairman, Ken Davy, said: "I saw the building in the spring of this year and arranged the purchase to further the excellent work of the Rugby and Football in Community Schemes and I could see the opportunity for use of the facilities by other sports."
Minority sports clubs, such as fencing, table tennis, indoor cricket, who would like their sport to be included in the new facility should call the Trust on 01484 484156.
