Stokewood Leisure Centre has the green light for a major transformation thanks to a sustainable improvement plan and £1 million investment.
Bournemouth Council and BH Live will improve the health and wellbeing facilities, at the popular community leisure centre, with a significantly improved gym space and new fitness equipment.
Additional activity areas will be created within the existing footprint of the centre, resulting in a larger gym over two floors, creating more space for new equipment and functional fitness zones. This will enable the BH Live Active team to provide more activities to encourage inactive people in the area, especially those living with health conditions and young people, to get more active.
John Beesley, Leader of Bournemouth Council, said: “Stokewood Leisure Centre is a thriving and popular leisure hub for the community, and we are delighted to be improving and expanding the facilities in partnership with BH Live, to provide even more opportunities for local people to enjoy health and fitness pursuits.”
The new space will benefit from environmentally friendly LED lighting, insulation and climate control. Natural daylight will improve ambience. Original features to be retained include a stained glass window and grand central staircase.
Peter Gunn, BH Live’s Chief Executive said: “Stokewood is a nationally recognised leisure centre of excellence and a well-attended community hub. These improvements will enable us to continue meeting the high expectations and diverse needs of our community; to encourage more people of all ages and abilities to be more active to promote greater health and wellbeing.”
Bournemouth Council and BH Live have a great track record of working together to improve community facilities. Most recently at Littledown Centre in Bournemouth, a £1.7 million investment enabled a wider range of activities to be offered to people of all abilities, significantly increasing customer satisfaction.
The contractor appointed for these works is Portsmouth based Lifetime Construction Ltd who have delivered a number of high specification leisure facilities, across the South Coast, working closely with local authorities.
Natasha Barnes, General Manager of Lifetime Construction said: “We are delighted to be appointed onto this exciting new project for Bournemouth Council and look forward to working closely with the local authority in this new transformation. We are looking forward to adding Stokewood to our portfolio and helping change people’s lives in the local area for the better with these fantastic new facilities.”
Work at Stokewood is expected to begin in Autumn 2016 and complete by Spring/Summer 2017. It will be carried out in phases to minimise disruption. During this time, Stokewood will remain open.
Customers can also use other facilities in the area at Sir David English Sports Centre, Littledown Centre, Pelhams Park Leisure Centre and BH Live Active, Queen’s Park.
Find out more about the facilities from the team at Stokewood and at bhliveactive.org.uk.
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Notes to Editors:
For more information about BH Live please contact:
Elizabeth Symmons, PR & Corporate Communications Executive
E: press.office@bhlive.org.uk
T: (01202) 055562
About BH Live
BH Live is the South Coast’s leading operator of leisure and event venues; a social enterprise that designs and builds engaging experiences to inspire people and enrich lives. With more than three million visits a year and over £36.5 million turnover, the organisation is changing lives – placing it at the heart of the UK’s growing social economy. In 2015/16 BH Live hosted more than 500 events, sold over half a million cultural, sporting and entertainment tickets. They welcomed 2.4 million active participants into its leisure centres and 118,000 conference and exhibition delegates into its venues. This contributed an estimated £66.3 million to the local economy through business and cultural tourism. For more visit bhlive.org.uk
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