Wow factor

Tour of new Oldham Leisure Centre. PHOTO BY DARREN ROBINSON.

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THE OLDHAM Evening Chronicle was given a first glimpse inside the £15 million Oldham Leisure Centre before it throws open its doors to the public tomorrow. (18)

Our pictures show the brand new facilities that council chiefs say will be better than ever before – helping to put the town on the national sporting map and ensure an Olympic legacy lives on.

Oldham Council, Oldham Community Leisure (OCL), Willmott Dixon and partners came together on site yesterday (16) to celebrate the facility’s completion and showed photographers around.

Oldham will now be able to hold regional and televised competitions with the enhanced facilities; which include a 25-metre, eight-lane swimming pool of county-level standard, an 80 station gym, two dance studios, a bespoke spinning studio, eight court sports hall with seating for over 500 spectators, an indoor bowls arena, café and ample free car parking.

The new centre also has Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) accreditation – which means it can cater for the needs of disabled and non-disabled people alike.

Construction of the building was achieved on schedule and comes a month after the nearby £8 million Royton Sports Centre opened its doors.

The current Oldham Sports Centre, built in 1989, will close today (17) for the final time – with the site included in plans for further town centre regeneration. Glodwick Pool will also close on the same day.

Oldham Council Deputy Leader Councillor Jean Stretton said: “This is a fantastic moment for Oldham, as this amazing facility is a key element in the town’s transformation.

“Oldham Leisure Centre will not only serve as a first-class facility for residents and visitors but it will be an important community and social venue – and one that will have the correct specifications to attract major regional and national competitions in some sports.

“We made a commitment following the London Olympics that we would provide facilities that would improve the health and wellbeing of our residents. We also pledged that the new facilities would create local jobs and a large number of residents and local firms have been involved in their construction.

“It has been a huge team effort to reach this milestone and I’d like to congratulate all that have been involved in creating this stunning centre.”

OCL Chief Executive Stuart Lockwood said: “Our team, in partnership with Oldham Council have worked extremely hard over the last few years to bring this monumental project to life, and it’s very rewarding to see the first class facility complete.

“I’d like to thank the support of our current members who use the Oldham and Glodwick facilities. We hope new members will be enticed by this new and improved offer.”

Anthony Dillon, Willmott Dixon's Northern managing director, said: “I am delighted to see the opening of our second leisure centre with Oldham Council. This was a challenging construction project and credit must go the council and the whole project team for delivering such a first class community facility with so much local labour.”Oldham Leisure Centre will be hosting a ‘bring a friend’ weekend on Saturday (21) and Sunday (22). Existing OCL members can bring family and friends anytime over this weekend to try the facilities for free. (check www.oclactive.co.uk for session times).

During this weekend anyone who gets an ‘Oldham Active Membership’ will also be able to take advantage of OCL’s ‘no joining fee’ promotion – which will save you £15 when joining.