Refurbished facilities at Keynsham’s Leisure Centre have been officially opened.
Councillor Dine Romero, Bath & North East Somerset Council Leader and Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services opened the centre’s new ground floor fitness suite, studios, changing facilities, soft play and café on Thursday 27 June.
The ceremony marked the end of the first phase of the £11million refurbishment of Keynsham’s Leisure Centre.
Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services said: “The leisure centre had been in need of updating for a while, but before we started work we wanted to make sure the new facilities were well used so we asked local residents what they’d like to see. The result is fantastic new facilities which will serve the community for many years to come and which we hope will encourage people to get active more often.”
Work to transform the ageing building into a more modern and welcoming centre began in May last year. The refurbishment of the main pool hall and construction of a new teaching pool are now underway, with work expected to be completed by the autumn.
The project is being delivered by Bath & North East Somerset Council through its contractor Kier, in partnership with GLL, who operate and manage the leisure centre on behalf of the council under the Better brand.
The council secured £500,000 of funding towards the project from the National Lottery through a bid to the Strategic Facilities Fund which is administered by Sport England.
The refurbishment of Keynsham Leisure Centre forms part of the council’s continued investment in improving leisure facilities across the district to help support the delivery of its ambitious Fit for Life strategy, which is designed to improve the health and well-being 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 council’s partnership with GLL has already delivered new facilities at Bath Sport and Leisure Centre which now boasts a new trampoline park, learner pool, soft play, changing facilities, reception areas, cafe and 10-pin bowling; and seen a dramatic increase in the number of people getting active across Bath and North East Somerset.
The refurbishment of Keynsham Leisure Centre is part of a package of measures introduced by the council to help regenerate the town, from the redevelopment of the old council offices into contemporary new homes to changes to traffic routing in the town centre and plans for improvements to the public realm in the town.
To find out more about Keynsham leisure centre go to www.better.org.uk/keynsham
