£13.5m leisure project gets green light
Plans to create a community swimming pool and leisure centre in Sparkhill have come to fruition after Birmingham City Council agreed to give the go-ahead. Officials said they are confident "significant savings" can be made from the £13.5m estimated cost of the venture.
After talks with the leisure market, the council said it hoped to make saivings on the original £13.5m cost to demolish and rebuild Sparkhill Pool and Fitness Centre.
Cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture, councillor Martin Mullaney, said: "This is another step forward for our ambitious swimming pool strategy and I’m confident we can now deliver a fantastic new community facility.
"It is also clear that we can make considerable savings on the Sparkhill project and that’s why we have decided to go out to tender.
"We looked at the possibility of building a new pool at Moseley School as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme but the existing site ticked all the boxes and that was backed up by a public consultation process."
The new Sparkhill Pool and Fitness Centre will comprise a 35 metre pool, a learner pool, exercise studio, two fitness suites and changing rooms.
A competitive tender process for the project will begin in July 2011, said the council. The centre is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2014.
