Leisure facilities in Arnold are to receive a big financial boost it was announced today (2 November) by Gedling Borough Council.
Council Leader, Councillor John Clarke, revealed plans for an investment of £1.1 million in popular leisure facilities the Bonington Theatre and Arnold Leisure Centre, at a briefing to user groups today.
The Bonington Theatre is set to benefit from £250,000 of investment which is likely to be spent on new seating and lighting and sound equipment and improvements to the dressing rooms and bar area.
Arnold Leisure Centre will receive a pot of £400,000 to be spent on improvements to its swimming changing rooms and pool hall, plus work to improve the outside of the building and possibly an extension to the reception area. There is also potential for a further £200,000 of funding which will be spent on making the poolside changing rooms more family friendly and better laid out as the council has submitted an application for Sport England Improvement funding. However, it won't be known if this bid has been successful for several months.
The Council has worked closely with valued users of these facilities, including the Bonington Theatre Forum and the Arnold Swimming Club, to identify priority areas for this funding to be spent on.
Alongside this, the council has already spent £450,000 of Growth Point funding to buy the land of the former Druid's Tavern pub, just opposite the leisure centre site. By the end of March 2013, this will be turned into an additional 100 space 'green' shoppers' car park, incorporating storage for bikes, motorcycles, and a solar powered ticket machine.
The council has plans to complete this work over the next 18 months although details of the work and timescales have yet to be finalised. We have appointed a Project Manager to scope the works, assess the timescales/ implications and to undertake the procurement etc. Every effort will be made to ensure that disruption to activities and users of the theatre and leisure centre is kept to a minimum and I will make contact with you in due course to discuss this and to keep you involved and informed.
In the meantime if you have any queries please contact me on the below contact telephone numbers or Jayne Cox- Service Manager (Jayne.cox@gedling.gov.uk or tel 9013703)