A “world class” arena and conference centre on the Gateshead Quayside will not be completed until 2025, council bosses say.
After news this week that the massive development had won £20m of new backing from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF), local authority chiefs have confirmed that its opening date has been delayed again. It had originally been hoped that the huge facility, which will be called The Sage, would have been ready to open this year, before being pushed back to 2024.
But, with the early stages of construction work on the riverside site having halted while the delayed LUF funding announcement remained uncertain, it will now be 2025 before the new arena is ready. Spiralling costs caused by huge inflation have cast doubt over the future of the project, which is now expected to cost upwards of £350m.
