ARENA OF DREAMS

Developers have included a permanent facility for skaters in plans for a £50m arena at West Quay.

It should be up and running by 2007, marking the end of almost two decades when enthusiasts have had to travel as far afield as Basingstoke and Gosport to pursue their sport.

Building work on the project, the largest of its kind in the south, looks set to begin next year. The huge scheme, which will transform Southampton's city centre, is to have an Olympic-size ice rink as its centrepiece.

At other times the rink will be transformed into a giant arena with a seating capacity for about 8,000, nearly twice as many as originally planned.

A second permanent rink will be placed by the side of the main building.

It will be the first time the city has had a full-time rink since the Top Rank facility in Banister Park closed in 1988 despite a massive campaign to save it. More than 34,000 people signed a petition to keep it open.

Developer Bravo Network has designed the arena to play host to top West End shows such as Chicago, Miss Saigon and the Phantom of the Opera.

Civic chiefs hope it will also lure top rock acts such as Robbie Williams, The Rolling Stones and Elton John to the city. It is also hoped that it will become the permanent home of a basketball and ice hockey team.

Campaigners who have worked for a new rink for more than 15 years were delighted.

Southampton Ice Dance and Figure Skating Club secretary Edna Boden said the deal was "excellent news" for her members who have had to travel as far away as Basingstoke and Gosport to pursue their hobby.

She said: "Myself and our chairman Kerry Paine have been working closely with the council and with Bravo over the past two years.

"We are absolutely delighted that all our perseverance and campaigning has come to the excellent result.

"It has been 18 long years but Bravo will bring excellent ice skating back to the city. Our dreams are more than answered and our club is raring to go. We now have ice skating for the whole community."

Fears have already been expressed that the giant centre could overload Southampton's already overcrowded road network.

AA spokeswoman Rebecca Rees said that visitors would be deterred from coming to the city's planned arena.

She said: "If they are not going to provide enough parking, they have to look at park-and-ride schemes as well as different methods of transport to get people in."

Southampton city centre manager Ian Rothwell added that although most events that would take place in the arena would happen at night, there could be problems for people parking during the city's annual boat show and the Christmas period.

He said: "One of the things we have to look at is alternative ways of getting people in and out of the city whether it is by bus or by park-and-ride. It is important that they get it right."

A spokesman for Bravo Network said: "Southampton city centre has more than 10,800 car parking spaces of which 4,000 are within the WestQuay shopping facility - within minutes' walk of the new arena site and mostly empty in the evenings.

"The arena site is a short walk from the main railway station and the hydrofoil and ferry ports to the Isle of Wight."

The new arena, which will be built on vacant land between WestQuay shopping centre and The Quays swimming and diving centre, will resemble one in the German city of Hamburg.

Parts of the development include a huge public square which will become the central hub of the city's nightlife, a 200-bedroom hotel and three residential apartments.