The basement of the Manchester Arena is to be turned into a multi-level go-kart track for the city’s thrill seekers.
Indoor karting company, TeamSport, are set to turn the space into a 550m race track for up to 16 go-karts at a time.
The basement of the venue has remained largely disused since the arena was built in 1995.
The firm now hope to make the most of the venue’s transport links after getting the go-ahead from Manchester City Council.
“We’re delighted to be bringing a TeamSport venue to Mannchester, particularly in such a central and interesting venue,” said TeamSport’s Managing Director Dominic Gaynor.
“We acquired a site in Warrington a couple of years ago, opened a track in Liverpool back in December of last year and Manchester has been a real target for quite a while.
The track is set to be built under the JD Williams call centre and the arena’s car park.
RACE DAYS: TeamSport have released track plans for the facility
“I don’t think it’s ever really been utilised, it’s been used for bits of storage and JD Williams used some of the space for additional meeting rooms,” Dominic told MM.
“We’re going to be knocking out that office content and putting in our own hospitality areas and building a track in the rest of the space.
“We’re going to be able to have a raised level so you’ll be able to drive up a ramp and over a big flyover and back down again which is a really nice feature.”
The facility, which will be TeamSport’s eighteenth indoor track, will also feature a fully-licensed bar and serve food.
“I think it’s going to be huge,” said Dominic.
“Rather than people having to get in cars and get out to other sites on the outskirts of Manchester, having something in the centre that people can easily access either by train, tram or even on foot is going to be really appealing.
“We’ve seen demand increase across all of our sites in the UK with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button making F1 really cool again – kids want to get into karting.”
Work on the space is expected to begin in the next few months with the firm hoping to open the track in October.
