Glasgow might not have bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, or London for the 2012 Olympic Games, had the recession bitten earlier.
Glasgow might not have bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, or London for the 2012 Olympic Games, had the recession bitten earlier.
Louise Martin, who led the city's presentation at the Commonwealth vote in Sri Lanka, hinted strongly at that yesterday as she unveiled £3.5m worth of "legacy facilities" for Scotland.
"I shrink from saying Glasgow wouldn't have done it, but it looked a lot healthier before this time of recession," said Mrs Martin, who is now chairwoman of sportscotland.
"I have to believe we will come through this. It will be challenging, but we will find ways of making it work. It would have been a much harder decision for London. They had virtually all their venues to build, whereas 70% of the Glasgow facilities for 2014 were in place."
The recession may also inhibit delivery of the legacy, which depends on public facilities able to cope with projected increased demand and expectation driven by the forthcoming Games in London and Glasgow.
To aid this, sportscotland announced £3.5m assistance for community projects. This has helped leverage £58m worth of facilities across Scotland this year, but this still represents a shortfall on the £110m annual target.
