Work is on schedule and the building will be opened in February 2012, following internal fit-out and staff training by the operator SLM (Everyone Active).
Main contractor, Balfour Beatty reports the latest developments in construction to have taken place include the installation of the first phase of the new climbing zone, as well as the completion of the first part of the leisure pool flume. The majority of the external works have now been completed.
Rendering of the Plymouth Life Centre’s internal walls is almost finished and tiling of the dive pool is well advanced. Work is also underway on putting the moveable floors and booms into the main 50-metre Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Councillor Vivien Pengelly, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “It seems like only yesterday that we cut the turf and launched this exciting construction project back in February last year. The progress has been phenomenal and the facility remains on budget and on schedule to open early next year. I am really excited to think we’re almost at the point of it being finished – just a matter of a few months away now. The Plymouth Life Centre will transform access to leisure and sports facilities in the city and across the whole of the South West and by early 2012 we’ll have one of the best centres in the country.”
Preparation works for the Plymouth Life Centre began in February 2010 with the main excavation and bulk dig starting in April of the same year. By June, structural steels had begun to be erected – more than 1,200 tonnes of steel has been used in construction.
Reinforced concrete work to create the main swimming pool started in June 2010, with water testing on that and the leisure and dive pool taking place in March this year. It took a week to fill the main pool and has now been covered with 1,075 square metres of tiles. The final six months of construction will concentrate on the completion of the internal facilities.
The Plymouth Life Centre will underline the city’s growing credentials as a premier venue for local, national and international sporting events. The centre is the city’s single biggest investment in leisure facilities and its flexible use will bring huge benefits for the local economy and further strengthen inward investment for the city.
More information can be found at www.plymouth.gov.uk/lifecentre.