Alliance Leisure, North East Derbyshire District Council, the Clay Cross Town Deal board, and Sport England were on site at Sharley Park to bid the old leisure centre a final farewell as demolition commenced on the building which is paving way for a fantastic state-of-the-art community hub called Clay Cross Active which opens in the winter.
Alliance Leisure has been appointed to deliver the works through the UK Leisure Framework, owned by Denbighshire Leisure Limited (DLL).
Work has been underway at the site for some months now, putting in the steel frame of the new building at the rear of the old leisure centre which managed to stay partially open right up until February 2024. This new phase and demolition of the old building will see the build start to accelerate as it gets closer to completion.
The new centre has been needed for some time, the old facility being tired and dated and the community had said in consultations they wanted a new centre; using Alliance Leisure’s 25-year expertise, we are ensuring that they are getting a new centre that far surpasses their expectations.
However, this didn’t stop users of the centre sharing their amazing comments, looking back at how the centre has formed a cornerstone of the community helping their parents learn to swim right down to their own children in recent times and reminiscing about getting chip butties after a swim!
The time has now come to embrace the new and innovative, as such, the facility will feature a large modern fitness suite, immersive spin studio, sports hall, main pool and learner pool with spectator seating, changing places facility, wellness suite, soft play, a TAGactive arena, and a community café. Local residents will therefore still retain a welcoming community hub, but with a plethora of new ways to get active and moving.
Cllr Kathy Rouse, Cabinet Member for Leisure at North East Derbyshire District Council said,
I have fond memories of Sharley Park myself and share the views of our residents – it’s been a fantastic facility that served our community well, but now is the time to embrace the new hub which is being built and its exciting to see it progress.
It’s going to be brilliant for the town, and you can really sense the Clay Cross Town Deal coming together as works progress on the wider town areas.
Whilst Andy James, Sport England added,
This project supports key elements of our ‘Strategy Uniting the Movement’, given the key location of the facility within a parks location it supports one of our key themes within the strategy in terms of encouraging ‘Active Environments’.
Sport England will continue this support going forward and are actively involved supporting the construction of the facility and acting as a critical friend to the council, this will continue until the centre opens and beyond.
