Hamilton killed 16 children and a teacher

The �2m Dunblane Centre is being funded from donations which poured into the Stirlingshire town after Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 children and one teacher at the town's primary school in March 1996.

The facility will be built on the site of a Territorial Army hall due to be demolished at the beginning of July.

The project is being managed by the Dunblane Youth and Sports Centre Trust, set up in the wake of the tragedy, and is expected to be completed by July 2004.

It also received #200,000 from the sportscotland lottery fund.

Welcoming the announcement, sportscotland chairman Alastair Dempster said: "We are delighted that the Dunblane Centre project is under way and we believe it is fitting that a permanent tribute focused on the youth in the community will be built in the town.

Two funds

"Sportscotland is pleased to support the project which will offer an extensive range of activities for young people and we look forward to the opening next year."

Two funds were set up in the aftermath of the tragedy - one administered by Stirling Council and the other by the trustees appointed by the local Stirling Observer newspaper.

It was decided early on that the council's Dunblane Fund would concentrate on helping the bereaved and injured, while the other would aim to help the wider community.