NEW £10.5 MILLION SWIMMING POOL PUTS WORCESTER ON THE SPORTING MAP
The £10.5 million revamp of Perdiswell Leisure Centre by Speller Metcalfe has its centrepiece as a new eight-lane 25-metre competition standard pool designed to attract everyone from casual swimmers to Olympic and Paralympic champions.
The pool and other fitness facilities at the leisure centre represent a significant investment by Worcester City Council to create a healthy and active city, with the scheme attracting £2 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Strategic Facilities Fund.
Local swimming hero and Paralympian Rebecca Redfern – who scooped the Silver in the women’s SB13 100m breaststroke in Rio – officially opened the pool with the Mayor of Worcester on 24 January.
Droitwich-based Rebecca said: “It’s great to see Worcester investing in this fantastic new pool. The new look Perdiswell Leisure Centre is exactly what we need if we’re going to grab the medals at Tokyo in 2020.”
The Mayor of Worcester, Councillor Paul Denham, said: “Swimmers of all abilities and ages will find Perdiswell Leisure Centre has everything they need and I look forward to seeing the champions of the future training here. I am very proud that this is a fully accessible sports centre – there are no barriers to Worcester’s new pool.”
Fully accessible for people of all abilities, the major new sports and leisure facility is suitable for regional competitions, alongside provision of a new gym and spin/fitness studio complementing the recently revamped sports hall.
The new pool has been built by Speller Metcalfe and will be operated by Freedom Leisure, which has been awarded a 10-year contract to manage all the Council’s sport and leisure centres.
Des O’Neill, Managing Director at Speller Metcalfe, says: “As a local building contractor, it has been fantastic working on such an exciting leisure development which has strengthened the city’s reputation as a sporting city, as well as provide other employment for local sub-contractors and suppliers from across the county.”