Daily Record – Ayrshire Live – By Paul Behan
An exciting new chapter begins as the diggers move in to begin work on the latest part of what will be a wider “re-planning” at Millbrae.
Phase two of Ayr Rugby Club’s multi-million pound redevelopment at Millbrae has begun.
Ayrshire Live can reveal that contractors have moved to begin preparatory work in what will eventually see the building of a new multi-sports all-weather pitch– to the east of the current pitch.
Also included in the phase two development is perimeter fencing, new team dugouts/shelters, access paths to the north and south of the pitch and new floodlighting.
The proposals are the latest plans for a wider “re-planning” of the Premiership club’s home ground. The cost of phase one, which involved building a new access road from Murdoch’s Lone, was around £1m. Phase two will cost around £1.7m to complete.
Club chairman Brian Williamson said: “Work has started on phase two and will be finished in January. Phase one, which is the new access road in, is pretty much complete. And the second phase started this week.”
Ayrshire Live has learned that the new access road to Millbrae will open at the same time as phase two. This is to ensure that contractors can use the undisturbed route to get to and from the current construction site with ease. Carrying out the work is the Malcolm Group.
Mr Williamson said: “The muti-sports pitch is going to be so beneficial, it’ll have provision for 11-a-side and seven-aide football and more.”
It is hoped that, when the multi-million pound redevelopment of Millbrae is complete, Ayr’s facilities and community links will seal its place as one of the top community sports clubs long into the future.
Mr Williamson said: “As a club we’re very conscious of the fact that we need to be winning on the pitch. At the end of the day we are all about community, we are all about reaching out and we’re all about our charity objectives, but you have to produce a winning team on the pitch too. That’s the same in any sport and that’s a difficult balance.”
“But we think we have good players, good coaches and a good youth section. There’s a lot of different things that make up this club and the community are a big part of that too.”
Jewitt & Wilkie Architects, the firm behind the initial planning application for phase two, said: “The proposals represent the second stage in moving towards the delivery of a range of improvements at Millbrae which will improve the ability of the Rugby Club to reach out further and strengthen its already highly developed destination/hub for a range of community activities.”
Mr Williamson also revealed that fund raising to help finance the ambitious plans for the stadium, and its surroundings, will continue.
In terms of the club’s phase three redevelopment, this will involve the replacement of the existing clubhouse with a new state-of-the-art facility; including a lounge bar, beer garden, restaurant and multi-purpose function room, studio space, as well as modern team changing facilities and a community gym, all subject to planning approval.
Papers in relation to phase three have now been lodged with South Ayrshire Council for consideration.
A major catalyst in the overall redevelopment is a £3m investment in the club, known as ‘The Macdonald Legacy.’ The legacy honours club member and former 1st XV player, Barry Macdonald, who died suddenly in December 2020.