Councillor Vivien Pengelly, Leader of Plymouth City Council and representatives from the project’s main building contractor Balfour Beatty will give Peter Hansford a tour of the leisure centre construction site during the morning of Thursday 24 February.
Mr Hansford will be accompanied by Patricia Johnson, the South West Regional Director of the Institution of Civil Engineers, together with other members of the ICE regional committee. The walk-about is part of a wider visit to the South West for President Hansford, who will be shown progress to date on the site.
Due to open in the autumn, Plymouth’s Life Centre will provide some of the best leisure facilities of their kind in the South West and will be one of the country’s leading centres for aquatic excellence.
ICE President Peter Hansford said: “I am pleased to be starting my visit to the South West in Plymouth. The city has been a centre of engineering excellence for a long time. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how the Plymouth Life Centre development is progressing, particularly how it has been designed and is being built to the highest specifications within the leisure industry.”
The Plymouth Life Centre sees 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.
Councillor Vivien Pengelly, Leader of Plymouth City Council, commented: “The visit by President Hansford is a fantastic reward for the project team’s unwavering commitment to creating a first class leisure facility of which Plymouth and the wider region can be proud. We are delighted to be hosting the President and his team and very much look forward to extending a warm welcome to Plymouth.
“The Plymouth Life Centre is vital in improving the overall health and general well-being of the city’s residents and will provide facilities that everyone can use, regardless of age or ability, whether they’re involved in sports at novice or professional level.”
Over the last month, there has been significant progress on the main roof of the building, along with a great deal of block work, both internally and externally. Work has been taking place on the dive tower and structure for the platforms at various heights, as well of some of the first windows being installed. Work has also been completed on the structural steel and timber beams over the main swimming pool area. Elsewhere on the project, the main sports hall ground floor has been cast and the areas which will accommodate the wet and dry changing areas are now well underway.
Date: Media Call / Photo Opportunity, Thursday 24 February 2011
Time: 8:45am
Location: Plymouth Life Centre, Balfour Beatty Construction Offices
Interviews & photos/filming: Plymouth City Councillor Vivien Pengelly, ICE President Peter Hansford and representatives from main contractor Balfour Beatty
More information can be found at www.plymouth.gov.uk/lifecentre.
Ends
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