Andover Leisure Centre celebrates major milestone
The new Andover Leisure Centre celebrated another build milestone yesterday, with its Topping Out Ceremony marking the highest point of the building work being completed.
Representatives from Test Valley Borough Council, Places for People Leisure, Pellikaan Construction and Architects Roberts Limbrick attended the ceremony yesterday (Tuesday 22 May), along with community representatives and pupils from Anton Junior School in Andover for a tour of the build.
Community and Leisure Portfolio Holder, Councillor Tony Ward, said: “We are really excited to see the design for the new leisure centre coming to life before us. Once completed, the new modern and sustainable leisure centre will offer a broad range of activities and services to bring the whole community together. Places for People Leisure’s plans to improve the leisure offering and the health and wellbeing of the area are truly exciting.
“Works have already been completed at Knightwood Leisure Centre which now boasts a brand-new gym with Technogym’s TEAMBEATS™; a heart-rate driven group exercise experience, where participants work out to the beat of the music against a timer. Workout metrics, such as heart rate, moves and calorie burn are displayed alongside avatars on a large screen. Romsey Rapids has also been fitted out with a new gym and cycle studio and Romsey Sports Centre’s squash courts have also received investment, with further enhancement works planned across the contract.”
Test Valley Borough Council awarded Places for People Leisure the 30-year Design Build Operate and Maintain contract in respect of the new Andover Leisure Centre, Romsey Rapids, Charlton Leisure Centre, Knightwood Leisure Centre and Romsey Sports Centre, along with construction partners Pellikaan Construction and architects Roberts Limbrick. The new leisure centre, which is due to be completed in spring 2019, will include a six lane 25m pool along with a 15m learner pool with moveable floor and a splash pad for helping to develop water confidence. It will also feature a state of the art 165 station fitness suite, four exercise studios, squash courts, sports hall and café.
Martin Anderson, Capital Projects Director, said: “It really will be a fantastic community venue and we are looking forward to opening the centre early next year so that it can be enjoyed by all members of the community. The centre is now really starting to take shape and we are delighted with the progress made to date by our construction partners Pellikaan. In partnership with Test Valley Borough Council we are looking forward to offering a range of programmes and activities that will enhance our customer experience and encourage even more people to enjoy a more active lifestyle in line with our social mission to ‘create active places and healthy people’.
For more information please visit www.placesforpeopleleisure.org