new
opening
LEASE OF LIFE
THE £46.5M PLYMOUTH LIFE CENTRE FINALLY OPENED ITS DOORS TO THE PUBLIC IN APRIL. DAWN TUCKWELL DROPS IN TO EXPLORE THE NEW COMPLEX
T
he Plymouth Life Centre – operated by SLM under its Everyone Active brand – sets out to take community
provision to the next level thanks to the sheer scope and quality of its offering. Nevertheless, inclusion and participation were at the heart of the centre’s philosophy from the outset, with a wide range of facilities and activities available at affordable prices. Council leader Vivien Pengelly
explains: “Our main goal was to create a community hub that will cater for all ages and abilities, and inspire people in
INFO PANEL 1:
Plymouth and the surrounding area to achieve life-long participation in sport and physical activity.”
aquatics offering Outside of the Olympic village, the aquatics centre is the largest of its kind in southern England. It has the only 10- lane, 50-metre competition pool in the south-west, as well as a family pool with beach entry and fl umes. The diving facilities are some of the
best in the UK with boards at 3, 5, 7.5 and 10 metres in the 25-metre, six-lane diving pool. Bubble release and water spray agitate the surface of the water to lessen the impact forces and video playback allows athletes and coaches to review each dive, increasing the effectiveness of training. A dry dive training facility – with trampolines, springboards, harnesses, crash-mats and other specialist equipment – allows athletes to practise out of the water. Aside from the quality and quantity of facilities, the fl exibility of the space
THE LIFE STORY
The 18,200sq m, £46.5m Plymouth Life Centre is the result of partnerships between private enterprise, government and NGBs. The need for a new centre was highlighted by a council and Sport England
investigation that revealed an under-investment in the public sport and recreation infrastructure over a 20-year period. As a result of this, only 18.6 per cent of Plymouth residents aged 16 and over were meeting the government guidelines for physical activity. Work on building a new centre began with consultation with local
community groups, schools, the Disabled Access Network, the Environment Agency, Plymouth University and various sporting NGBs. This consultation continued at various stages of the build to ensure the Life Centre met the needs of Plymouth residents and people in the surrounding area. The new centre sits next to the facilities it replaces: the current Mayfl ower
Leisure Centre and Central Park pools. These older facilities will be demolished and the space returned to parkland as part of the wider Central Park regeneration. “The Plymouth Life Centre is key to wider regeneration plans for Central Park. It has helped to create and sustain local jobs and will ensure the city remains competitive and well-placed to attract further investment in the future,” says council leader Vivien Pengelly.
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The Plymouth Life Centre features a 16-metre high climbing wall
sets Plymouth Life Centre apart from its contemporaries. Starting blocks and timing pads have been added to the moveable boom in the main pool, for example, so the pool size can be reduced from 50 metres to 25 metres for long- and short-course competitions. The aquatics centre is accredited to
hold international swimming and diving competitions, meaning that the world’s top athletes can compete one day, and the next day the space can be transformed to accommodate six community groups, each with their own separate pool.
fi tness focus But the aquatics centre is not the only draw. “The 160-station fi tness suite includes the latest cardiovascular and strength lines and provides members and guests with the ultimate workout experience. The centre will no doubt become a hub for fi tness excellence in the UK and has already been dubbed the best leisure centre in the country,” says Miles Rimell, director of marketing EMEA and APAC at Precor, which supplied equipment to the gym. Catering for athletes, fi tness
enthusiasts and casual gym users alike, the 925sq m fi tness suite offers an extensive range of Precor’s Icarian
june 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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