Look inside Whitchurch's new state-of-the-art swimming and fitness centre and see why it has councillors 'thrilled'

Shropshire Council's deputy leader Ian Nellins dived in and swam the first few lengths in the pool as he and his colleagues enjoyed a tour of the new state-of-the-art facility today (February 25)

The swimming and fitness centre has been completed ahead of schedule and within budget, according to the council, and will open to the public on Wednesday, March 19.

Builders are expected to hand over the keys to the Shropshire Community Leisure Trust and Serco - who will manage the site - this week.

Members of the public will then be invited to take a look around ahead of opening. 

It has taken just over a year since the north Shropshire town's previous centre was demolished to build the new facility. 

The old centre was closed in March 2020 when defects were found in the pool’s structure.

The facility was then demolished in January last year after the council concluded that building a new centre would be the most viable and cost-effective way to replace it.

The new £14m swimming and fitness centre includes a six-lane, 25-metre swimming pool, accessible changing rooms, a 41-station fitness suite and multi-function rooms.

Significantly, the depth of the centre's swimming pool can also be altered.

The county council's project lead, Peter Gilbertson explained: "The pool is six lanes, so slightly bigger than the pool that was previously here. But, some are the advantages are the easy access steps and the movable floor. 

"We can drop it to the bottom of the pool so it is 1.8 metres deep, and across the whole length of the swimming pool, and that is great for people in swimming clubs or for lane swimming - or we can move it up, say we have a children's group from a primary school, we can move the floor up to a metre. Then when they have finished we can change a different height.