Work is expected to get underway on the new £31.4m Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in North Lanarkshire early next year after a ceremony was held to mark the cutting of the first turf.

The facility, which is scheduled to open in May 2010, will include a full-sized indoor football pitch, an athletics track, a nine-court sports hall, a full-sized outdoor football pitch and six five-a-side pitches. It is also set to be the main venue for the International Children's Games in 2011, while there are also hopes that it will be used as a training facility for both the London 2012 Olympics and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Jim McCabe, leader of North Lanarkshire Council, which is supporting the project, cut the first turf at the site on 11 December. The project has also received backing from developer Ravenscraig and sportscotland, which has contributed £7m from the National and Regional Sports Facilities Strategy. McCabe said: "This project is long overdue. It is going to provide the people of Lanarkshire with an iconic sports facility and hopefully lead to more successful sportsmen and women coming from the area.

"It will also allow us to encourage our youngsters to adopt a healthy lifestyle and use their energy in a proper way, through sports." Balfour Beatty will lead the construction of the new complex, which has been designed by HOK, and project managers on the scheme is Doig and Smith.