BOWLING clubs will be green with envy when they see the latest venue for the Commonwealth Games.
The final touches are being put to the four flat greens and a pavilion in Heaton Park where the lawn bowling competition will take place.
The project cost £1m and forms part of a restoration programme in the park supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
It will see the park become a regional base for bowling and act as an incentive to attract more participants to the sport.
A management team including Games organisers, the Sports Turf Research Institute and officers from Manchester City Council worked closely on the scheme.
They have liaised regularly with the English Bowling Association and the Northern Counties Championships are due to take place there early next month.
Impressed
The chairman of the association and the head of the International Bowls Federation have both visited the site recently and were impressed with the facilities.
Eddie Flanagan, general manager at the park said: ''It is an exciting time for the park as there is so much restoration taking place and the construction of the new premier bowling complex will be a welcome addition to the existing range of facilities.
''Heaton Park is honoured to host such a prestigious event and is looking forward to welcoming people from across the world next year.
''These are international standard bowling facilities which can be enjoy by local people once the Games have finished.''
Quality
George Shaw, chief executive of the bowls association, said: ''The whole development, set within its own mini-amphitheatre in a beautiful area of Heaton Park, will provide a fantastic high quality showcase venue for bowls worthy of hosting the Commonwealth Games, as well as providing a wonderful legacy for flat green bowling at all levels of the sport.''
The grass used for the greens was grown by In-Turf near York, which also supplies the Wimbledon tennis championships.
Heaton Park is one of Europe's largest parks and boasts a Grade II listed landscape set in 259 hectares with a wide range of attractions.
It is currently undergoing a major restoration programme supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
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