THE BRAND new £15 million Oldham Leisure Centre will throw open its doors to the public on Wednesday, November 18.
Residents and visitors will be able to take their first look inside the borough’s flagship sports and leisure venue which will offer better facilities than ever before.
Oldham will now be able to hold regional and televised competitions with the enhanced facilities, which include a 25-metre, eight-lane swimming pool, an 80 station gym, two dance studios, a bespoke spinning studio and an eight court sports hall with seating for over 500 spectators.
There will also be an indoor bowls arena, a café and ample free car parking.
The new centre also has Inclusive Fitness Initiative accreditation, which means it can cater for the needs of disabled and non-disabled people.
Councillor Jean Stretton, Oldham Council Deputy Leader, took part in an exclusive tour of the centre, alongside Stuart Lockwood, Oldham Community Leisure Chief Executive, Anthony Dillon, Willmott Dixon’s Northern Managing Director, and other representatives.
Councillor 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 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.”
Mr Lockwood added: “Our team, in partnership with Oldham Council, has 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 using so much local labour.”
Construction was achieved on schedule and comes a month after the nearby £8 million Royton Sports Centre opened its doors.
The current Oldham Sports Centre will close on Tuesday, November 17 for the final time and is included in plans for the town centre regeneration.
Oldham Leisure Centre will be hosting a ‘bring a friend’ weekend on Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.