Delayed £11.3m Workington Leisure Centre to open next month

Workington Leisure centre in Cumbria will finally open to the public next month.

The £11.3m flagship facility, developed and owned by Allerdale Borough Council (ABC), was initially scheduled to open in time for the Rio Olympic Games, but the launch was pushed back to September due to construction delays.

Work on the centre began in 2014 and the new site will replace an existing, 40-year-old leisure centre in the town.

Facilities include a 25m swimming pool, training pool, health and Fitness club, a multi-use sports hall, squash courts and a group exercise studio designed primarily for indoor cycling.

The health club houses a 90-station gym floor with resistance and cv equipment, a free weights studio and an Omnia8 group exercise rack supplied by Technogym. Wet areas include a sauna and steamroom.

As part of the council’s strategy to widen its leisure provision, the centre also houses an indoor climbing wall and outdoor, five-a-side 3G football pitches.

The centre will be managed by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) under its “Better” brand.

Michael Heaslip, executive member of ABC, said: “The gym and the other sporting facilities on offer will put Workington on the map – and I can’t wait to see it open.

“It will also go a long way to meet the council’s priority of improving the health and wellbeing of residents.”

Martin Horne, GLL’s regional development manager, added: “Our partners at Technogym have worked with the space available to give us the best possible outcomes and get the maximum amount we can from the facility.

“Customers will see more equipment available for them to use and the research done on user habits and patterns means that the balance of equipment reflects what current users actually use when they visit us”.