The first phase of the £8 million redevelopment of Bath Sports and Leisure Centre has been completed.
Work started to transform the building into a modern and dynamic centre in July 2016 after £1.5million of funding was secured from the National Lottery (which is administered by Sport England).
Bath & North East Somerset Council has been working in partnership with charitable social enterprise GLL, which operates the Council’s leisure centres under the Better brand, to refurbish the centre with the aim of motivating more people to get active more often.
The first phase of the redevelopment, which is now complete, involved developing two new, purpose-built, fitness studios, a new state-of-the-art gym and a refurbished sports hall.
Councillor Martin Veal (Conservative, Bathavon North), Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet member for Community Services, said: “The Bath Sports and Leisure Centre was in desperate need of updating. This project has been on the agenda for some time and so it’s good to see that progress is being made and that the residents of Bath and North East Somerset now have access to first class sports and leisure facilities.
“We are delivering on our commitment to invest in modern leisure facilities. We still have more work to do as we improve changing facilities, introduced a new teaching and leisure pool, trampoline park and ten pin bowling alley, but we hope this development will encourage more people to access the leisure centre and motivate them to adopt a fit and healthy lifestyle.”
Bath & North East Somerset Council has been working closely with Sport England to ensure the project suits their national aims of providing accessible leisure facilities that encourage people to live active lives. The approved scheme forms part of the Council’s £17 million investment in improving leisure facilities across the district.
The first phase of works also included reinforcements to the structure of the building in the car park, a new mezzanine floor over half of the sports hall to accommodate a brand new health and fitness centre, a refurbished four court sports hall and the start of the 10 pin bowling alley provision.
The extensive programme of repairs, upgrades and new additions at Bath Sports and Leisure Centre include:
A new teaching and leisure pool
Transformation of the beach area of the fun pool into an interactive water-play area for children of all ages and abilities
New and improved changing spaces
An enhanced fitness suite
New double-storey soft play attraction
New studio space and party rooms
A trampoline park – wall-to-wall trampolines that are all connected together and have sides made up of angled trampolines to create one huge park where you can literally bounce off the walls
8-lane ten-pin bowling
A remodelled reception space to create a more open-plan feel with better views of the pool
Barnaby Rich, Bath Sports & Leisure Centre General Manager said: “Better is delighted to announce that the first phase of the £8 million refurbishment at Bath Sports & Leisure Centre in partnership with Bath & North East Somerset Council is now complete.
“The first phase introduced two brand new, purpose built fitness studios alongside the new state-of-the-art gym and a refurbishment of the sports hall. The work significantly upgrades some tired facilities and helps us transform public leisure to the high standard the community in Bath and the surrounding area deserve.
“But this is just the start. The next phase includes the first trampoline park for Bath and North East Somerset, an indoor adventure soft play facility and a 10 pin bowling complex – all delivered in time for families to enjoy this coming summer.
“Everyone at Better looks forward to welcoming you to our new facilities over the coming months – including at our FREE Inspire Day on 11th March.”
All the work on Bath Sports and Leisure Centre is being carried out in phases so that it can remain open during the works. After briefly closing for one day to transfer equipment, the new gym reopens today (Friday 3 March) with a slight reduction in equipment available. The gym will be fully available to use from 6pm on Friday 3 March.
Fit for life
The investment in leisure centres in Bath, Keynsham and Culverhay will help support delivery of the Council’s ambitious Fit for Life strategy, which is designed to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone in the area, now and into the future.
Its aim is to motivate more people to get more active more often – especially families, young people, older people and those who are overweight – and find ways to make physical activity more central to people’s lives.
The strategy also puts the spotlight on the contribution that sport and physical activity can make to Bath and North East Somerset’s economy, how they can help boost local communities by bringing people together and reducing social isolation, and the role they play in creating a sustainable environment.
To find out more about your local leisure centre go to www.better.org.uk or call:
Bath Sports and Leisure Centre 01225 486905
Keynsham Leisure Centre 01225 439680
Culverhay Sports Centre 01225 480882
Chew Valley Sports Centre 01275 333375
For more information about Midsomer Norton and Writhlington Leisure Centres call:
Writhlington Sports Centre 01761 438559
Midsomer Norton Sports Centre 01761 25263
For your information:
About GLL/Better
Established in 1993, GLL is the largest UK-based charitable social enterprise delivering leisure, health and community services. Under the consumer facing brand Better, the organisation operates more than 300 public sport and leisure centres and 88 libraries in partnership with more than 50 local councils, public agencies and sporting organisations. Better leisure facilities enjoy 44 million visitors a year and have more than 650,000 members.
GLL exists to make community services and spaces better for everyone. In practice, that means investing all profits back into providing quality leisure and fitness facilities for the good of the communities where GLL operates. Alongside the organisation’s core leisure and library divisions, GLL runs sport and legacy development, health intervention and education, as well as offering the GLL Sports Foundation, one of the largest independent support programmes for talented young athletes in the UK.
Including the loss of the only public squash courts in the city despite their use by a league of 100+ players.