Image: the centre will serve as a centre of excellence for judo

The Northern Ireland Executive has given a £656,000 grant towards the new regional centre of sports excellence in Londonderry.

The £11.7m St Columb's Park project is being managed by the City Council of Londonderry and will serve as a regional centre of excellence for judo, wrestling and mountaineering.

The campus will also feature a swimming pool, fitness suite, multi-sports hall, office space, changing facilities and a 3rd Generation synthetic floodlit pitch complex.

Work is scheduled to start in March 2013 with an expected completion date of June 2014.

The Mayor of the City, Kevin Campbell said: "The North West Regional Sports Campus is one of Derry City Council's key strategic development projects for delivery. We are delighted that the Department of Social Development has handed over the Contract for Funding so that we can progress with the next phase of the project.

"The Campus is a significant capital project for the city which will not only see the development of additional outreach facilities but enable us to attract high profile events for the benefit of the city and region."

The Department for Social Development's contribution of £656,000 will allow the Sports Campus to be used as an indoor events space to host events with a seating capacity of over 2,000 people making it the largest permanent indoor events space in the city.