NOTTINGHAMSHIRE County Council has put £1 million into a £5 million project to build a sports centre in Newark.
The money pledged towards the Newark Sports Association facility will compensate for the loss of the running track and astroturf pitch at Newark Academy, on London Road, when the school is rebuilt.
Work is expected to start on the new £20 million school in November.
Jon Hawketts, the county council's group manager for planning performance, said: "We have recognised there is an aspiration for a sports hub in Newark."
He said the planning process stipulated that the facilities that were being lost because of the rebuilding of the school should be replaced.
He added that the NSA wanted to bring a number of sports together at the hub.
Plans for the new facility include two football pitches, an athletics track, a cycle track and tennis and netball courts.