By Brendan Carroll

City planners have given Connacht Rugby more time to complete the €45m redevelopment of their home ground, Dexcom Stadium, on College Road.

The former Sportsground venue will see its crowd capacity increase to 12,000 with the building of a new stand, while a High Performance Centre for training etc is also being built.

The original planning permission for the redevelopment was granted in May 2019, but an extension of time was sought by Connacht Rugby back in June as that permission was due to expire in August.

Having sought further information on certain aspects of the project, Galway City Council has now acceded to the request and extended the life of the planning permission by a further three years.

However, Connacht Rugby expect that the main parts of the project will have been completed by December of next year.

Progress on the transformation of the stadium had been hampered by the advent of the Covid 19 pandemic and global supply disruption.

But work has been progressing at pace since the demolition of the clubhouse and the Clan Stand, the terraced area that was a favourite with fans, at the end of the rugby season before the summer.

In its place will be a new North Stand on four levels, with bars, shops and catering facilities, and a crowd capacity of around 7,000, which has been taking shape in recent months.

There will be a standing terrace at the front for 1,900, then 4,000 seats at the next level, while on the upper level there will be corporate facilities catering for around 900, which will double as a conference and hospitality venue.

A landmark moment in the redevelopment was reached in recent weeks, with the roof going up on the new state-of-the-art High Performance Centre, on the site of the old side-pitch at the ground.

This is on course for completion by the start of next April and will be the home of day-to-day operations at the club, with dressing rooms, physio areas, two canteens, and office space for pro team management and admin staff.

It will also include a half-size indoor training pitch, with a similar synthetic surface to the main pitch, which will allow teams to train regardless of weather conditions.

The replacement of the main grass pitch with a synthetic surface and the provision of new floodlight were completed in the initial stages of the overall redevelopment.

Other elements of the project being undertaken by contractors Conack Construction will include a refurbishment and extension of the existing main stand, renamed the South Stand.

In the absence of the demolished Clan Stand, the capacity of the ground has been reduced to between 3,500 and 4,000 and will continue to be so until the new North Stand is completed towards the end of next year.

Pictured: An aerial view of progress on the major redevelopment of Dexcom Stadium, formerly the Sportsground. Taken on Monday, it shows  the High Performance Centre (near right) with its roof recently installed, and the new North Stand under construction between it and the pitch.