Reading Borough Council is progressing with its plans to build two modern new swimming pools for Reading.
A modern 8 lane 25 metre competition standard pool (including full diving facilities) will be built at the Rivermead site to replace Central Pool which will close at the end of this year. In east Reading, a new 25 metre community pool will be built in Palmer Park (linked to existing leisure facilities) and will replace Arthur Hill Pool.
Both Arthur Hill Pool and Central Pool are ageing and expensive to run facilities. They require major investment in order to bring them up to an acceptable standard, and even then they would have a limited lifespan.
The Council is instead choosing to team up with a leisure provider and invest in modern new sport facilities which residents will be able to use for many years to come. We are in the process of identifying delivery partner through a detailed procurement process, which is ongoing. We expect to be in a position to put in place a new leisure contract by Summer 2018 and that construction of both new pools will begin later in 2018. The current timetable is that both new pools will be open for public use by 2020.
In the meantime, the Council is building a 25-metre 5-lane demountable pool at Rivermead (which is in addition to the existing swimming pool currently on the site). This is to provide an additional swimming facility pending the construction of the two new pools. Temporary demountable pools of this kind are of a high standard and have successfully been used in other parts of the country. The demountable pool is expected to be open for public use by January 2018, following the scheduled closure of Central Pool in December 2017.
The above was laid out in a report to the Council’s Policy Committee in October last year www.reading.gov.uk/media/6229/Item-11/pdf/item11-leisureupdate.pdf