Steel leisure centre opens in Oldham

The brand new £15M Oldham Leisure Centre is complete and now helping to put the town on the national sporting map and ensure an Olympic legacy lives on.

Oldham Council says it will now be able to hold regional and televised competitions with its enhanced facilities; which include a 25m, eight-lane swimming pool of county-level standard, an 80 station gym, two dance studios, a bespoke spinning studio, eight-court sports hall with seating for over 250 spectators, an indoor bowls arena, café and ample free car parking.

Working on behalf of main contractor Willmott Dixon, North Wales-based EvadX fabricated, supplied and erected 500t of steel for the project.

“This job was procured through a collaborative framework approach,” said Willmott Dixon Operations Director Mike Lane. “This helped us get subcontractors like EvadX on board quickly allowing them to start the steel design and fabrication process early, which in turn meant that steel arrived on site early helping to keep the job on programme.”

Construction of the building was achieved on schedule and came a month after the nearby £8M steel-framed Royton Sports Centre was completed by the same team.

Oldham Council Deputy Leader Jean Stretton [pictured] said: “Oldham Leisure Centre will not only serve as a first-class facility for residents and visitors but it will be an important community and social venue – and one that will have the correct specifications to attract major regional and national competitions in some sports.