A £1 million plan to demolish an aging sports pavilion in Wednesbury and replace it with new changing rooms will not be ready until 2026.

The 70-year-old pavilion at the Hydes Road playing fields in Wednesbury are now set to be demolished and replaced by Sandwell Council as part of improvement plans.

The ageing building, which is only now used on Sunday mornings by local football teams, has become damaged by rot and rainwater and requires “significant investment” according to the council. 

The demolition and rebuild is currently expected to cost £1.1million. The extra funding would come from money left over in the budget for improving other green spaces in Wednesbury.

The local authority originally said the project would be completed by March next year but has now said the new changing rooms will not expected to be open until at least January 2026. 

The football pitches would be improved by the summer, the council also said, with the car park not resurfaced until the pavilion opens in 2026.

Sandwell Council said the rebuild would be the most expensive option and take the longest – with the new pavilion even smaller than the current one – but the building would have a lifespan of 30 years rather than between five and 10 years.

The work for Hydes Road includes a new pavilion with changing rooms, a resurfaced car park and improved pitches as well as other improvements and new plants. 

The original Hydes Road scheme included a complete refurbishment of the pavilion, creating FA-compliant changing facilities, new toilets, showers and a community space. These plans were approved in August but further surveys found “significant issues” with the integrity of the pavilion’s walls and said the building only had a “limited” lifespan. 

The original scheme, which included just refurbishing the existing “dilapidated” building rather than demolishing and rebuilding it, would still have cost £1million. 

Under the government’s ‘levelling up’ rules, the £20m given to Sandwell Council to invest in Wednesbury must be spent by March next year. However, its plans for Hydes Road means the council has said it will have to swap parts of its capital budget around to allow the work to carry on throughout 2025/26. 

Hydes Road is one of four green spaces earmarked for improvements in the council’s ‘levelling up’ work which also includes the open spaces at Balls Hill, Wyntor Lane and Lakeside and Norbury Road. The project also includes the 600-home Friar Park ‘urban village’ and improvements to Wednesbury town centre and the Millenium Centre.