Latest news
Work to begin on Harlow sports and leisure centre
The Harlow Gateway Partnership, the body behind a £50m regeneration scheme in the Essex town, has appointed a contractor to build a new community sports and leisure centre.
The partnership – which is made up of Harlow District Council, Harlow and District Sports Trust, English Partnerships and the Department for Communities and Local Government – has appointed Oxford-based Leadbitter Construction to build the centre.
The three-storey building will be situated next to Harlow College and will feature a 25m swimming pool, a 20m learner pool, covered tennis courts, badminton courts and a fitness suite.
The site will also boast a sports hall – which will double as a concert and exhibition venue – and the ‘Science Alive’ science and technology learning centre for children and adults.
Bill Rammell, a member of the Gateway Board and Labour MP for Harlow, said: “When I grew up in Harlow, we had some of the best facilities in the region, if not the country. Today we don’t.
“That’s why the government has invested £11m in the Gateway scheme in the biggest single grant for Harlow in a generation.”
A spokesperson for the Gateway Partnership added: “The existing leisure facility, which set a national standard when it opened in 1960, will remain open until the new centre is up and running. Then, the old complex will make way for further homes, as part of the Gateway project’s contribution to housing development in the town.”
Leadbitter took possession of the site today (13 August) and work is expected to begin in September.
The facility is expected to be completed and opened to the public in the autumn of 2009.