Target date set for Shrewsbury's main Quarry swimming pool to reopen – a year after it was closed
A Shrewsbury town centre swimming pool that has been closed since last year is finally set to reopen in July.
Shropshire Council has confirmed that 'works are progressing' to reopen the main pool at the The Quarry Swimming and Fitness Centre.
If the pool does reopen in July then it will mean it has been unavailable for a year – having been shut last July after concerns over ceiling panels and ventilation units were uncovered in a routine inspection.
Shropshire Council has said that the £400,000 repair project is "well under way", with work progressing to strip out damaged and eroded pipes and ducting from the airflow management system from the roof space over the pool, as well as unused light fittings, walkways and ceiling panels.
The authority said that specialist contractors are making "good progress" on the installation of new ducting for the airflow management systems, now that the strip-out has been completed.
Robert Macey, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for culture and digital, said: “We appreciate it has been a long time for The Quarry pool to have been closed, but it has been a complicated process to find the right contractors for such a specialist programme of work.
“We are confident we have achieved that, and are now eyeing July for the pool to be reopened for swimmers. It has always been our intention to reopen as soon as possible, but the complexity of the project has made it difficult, until now, to put an exact timeframe on that ambition.
“We recognise there has been disappointment surrounding the closure of the main pool, and we would like to thank everyone affected for their patience. Customer and staff safety are our priority, and developing a successful programme has been at the centre of all our decisions.
“The Quarry’s operating contractor, Shropshire Community Leisure Trust, has been very understanding, and continued to run a full and varied programme of activities across the site’s other facilities, and we are grateful for that. We want to reopen the centre to its capacity just as much as they do.
“A key priority for Shropshire Council and its partners is to improve health and wellbeing at all stages of life, and increasing participation in physical activity across the community is crucial to this.”
The main pool was closed in July 2022 after routine inspections identified that corrosion had caused ceiling panels and ventilation units to become unsafe.
The other swimming pools and fitness suite remain open.
