Brid unveils £20m sports and leisure centre ‘to rival any on coast’

A £20M investment in a seaside town will give it sports and leisure facilities to “rival any other on the East Coast”, it is claimed.
Bridlington Leisure WorldBridlington Leisure World
Bridlington Leisure World

Plans are on show for the rebuilding and redevelopment of Bridlington’s “tired-looking” Leisure World, as a new attraction for visitors as well as “massively enhanced” facilities for local residents.

Artist’s impressions and a virtual “walk through” of the centre, which are on display at Leisure World today, reveals the stylish, curving front of the new building, and shows how visitors 
will be drawn into the heart of 
the building, via a corridor 
with glass panels, allowing them to see the sports on offer, and hopefully encouraging them to take part.

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In future, instead of the blacked- out wall on the seaward side which stops passers-by looking in, visitors will be able to enjoy panoramic sea views from a café at the back of the building.

The plans include:

Widening the current five-lane pool, which dates back to 1974, to a six-lane pool, which meets competition standards

A larger learner pool, with moveable floor

A new sports hall

A first floor 70-station fitness suite with views looking out over Bridlington Bay

A new six-court sports hall, squash courts and climbing wall

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East Riding Council is putting £17m towards the plans, with an offer of £1.8m from an outside organisation and a bid in for another £2.15m to another.

People are urged to get involved and provide feedback.

Director of planning and economic regeneration Alan Menzies said: “There are facilities for residents of Bridlington which are clearly going to be massively enhanced. There is an argument that if visitors use these new facilities and find it a very positive experience they might well come back for an additional time or two in the season.

“It is also about the overall regeneration of the town, of which Leisure World is one part, as is the Spa and Promenade.

“We are not simply just building a swimming pool, we are building a sport and leisure facility that will rival any other East Coast town. It is a very significant investment to provide the very highest quality sports and leisure facilities.”

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Subject to planning permission, Leisure World will close this winter, with the new building due to open in autumn 2015.

In the meantime people will use a temporary 25 metre pool in a building at the back of Gypsey Road sports centre.

The design has won over the council’s former design champion, ex-councillor Geoff Pickering – although he still believes the site “probably the most expensive in Bridlington after the Spa”, could have been used for a new, possibly, mixed-use purpose, with the new pool and sports facilities, concentrated on a site at Dukes Park, alongside the town’s rugby and football clubs.

However, he said: “If the decision is to locate the sports centre on that site then they couldn’t have come up with a nicer building – I do like it.

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“It picks up hints of the old 3Bs theatre and Wembley and is slightly Art Deco. But is this the best location for a sports centre and has the fantastic potential for the Leisure World site been lost?”

The development comes two months after Tesco delivered a huge blow to the council’s Bridlington Area Action Plan by abandoning plans for a new store in the resort.

Mr Menzies insisted the AAP was not off track, adding: “It has simply got to be delivered in a different way and we will do that.” He said they looking to have further discussions with the Harbour Commissioners “around the agreed scheme (for a Marina) that the Secretary of State has signed off”.

As well as the public viewing at Leisure World today from 2pm to 7pm, the proposals can also be viewed and commented on online at www.bridlingtonleisureworld.co.uk/leisure-world-bridlington/bridlington-leisure-world-redevelopment

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