Salt Ayre starts to get into shape
Construction work on a £5million revamp of Salt Ayre Sports Centre starts on Monday May 9.
Salt Ayre Adventure Play
The project, which will take more than a year to complete, will see the ageing centre transformed into a community hub with a host of exciting new facilities.
Work will be phased to minimise disruption, with phase one seeing part of the centre’s sports hall making way for a new three storey adventure play area and ‘clip and climb’ facility.
Phase one will take around four months to complete and also see an improved café and reception area.
Subsequent phases will see the development of a fitness suite with 100 stations and a dedicated ‘spinning studio’, an outdoor ‘thrill tower’, outdoor fitness equipment, refurbished changing rooms and a multi-functional training room.
In addition to providing better facilities the development will increase income and decrease costs, putting the centre on a better financial footing for the future.
Coun Darren Clifford, Cabinet member with responsibility for sport and leisure, said: “Salt Ayre Sports Centre is a very well used public facility but is starting to show its age. The leisure market has changed dramatically since the centre first opened and people now want something very different to what they did 20 years ago.
“No longer can we be the traditional municipal sports centre; we need to provide a better range of facilities if we are to encourage people here to spend their leisure time.
“We also need to increase income and reduce the amount of money it costs to run the centre.
“This investment is therefore driven through necessity, both in terms of making the future finances stack up, and our desire to provide affordable leisure and fitness activities to people of all ages and abilities.”
The project is being coordinated by Alliance Leisure, who are specialists in the leisure industry. Previous projects the company has been involved with include Howe Bridge Leisure Centre in Wigan, Cwmbran Stadium in Wales, and Ramsgate Leisure Centre.
More details on the development is available at www.lancaster.gov.uk/new-salt-ayre.
Follow news on the development at www.facebook.com/saltayresportscentre.
Last updated: 04 May 2016