The demolition of Newport Centre is set to begin in the coming months amid plans to replace it with a learning campus. Newport Centre has been a familiar site in the city's skyline, having hosted hundreds of concerts as well as gym, swimming and exhibition facilities over the years.
First opened in 1985, the centre has hosted major gigs by the likes of David Bowie, Run DMC and Alice Cooper but has fallen into disrepair in recent years. Last year its swimming pool was forced to close permanently after Newport City Council deemed it beyond repair. Other leisure services such as gym classes have been ongoing at the centre in the meantime.
Planning permission for the demolition of the 37-year-old Newport Centre was granted in October and plans are ongoing for a new £90m campus which will see Coleg Gwent relocated from its existing campus in Nash Road. the proposal forms part of the council's plans for the Newport Knowledge Quarter (NKQ) joining the University of South Wales campus and the seven-storey campus will also include shops, restaurants, offices, and a hotel. Coleg Gwent previously told WalesOnline it hoped the plans would bring more than 2,000 staff and students into the city.
Read more: How Newport has changed this year and what's in store for 2023
Newport City Council has now confirmed that demolition of Newport Centre will begin in the spring at a cost of around £1.2 million. It also said it was committed to plans to build a new £20m state-of-the-art leisure centre on a nearby brownfield site by the riverfront, plans for which were revealed in 2021. That is despite the council saying it faces an “unprecedented financial challenge” and a £33m funding gap which it says may force it to hike council tax by 9.5% and cut services this year. You can read more about that here.
A spokesperson said that despite financial difficulties, funding remained in the budget for the project as well as £7 million secured from the Welsh Government. The council said it was working with Newport Live, which delivers leisure services in Newport Centre, on arrangements for those services while the building is being demolished.
Check out how the pool at Newport Centre looked at it was closed for good last year:
A Newport City Council spokesperson said: "Newport City Council’s plans to deliver a new leisure offer on the site are continuing to progress. The council remains committed to delivering a new facility, funding remains allocated in the capital budget and it successfully secured £7 million from the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns fund towards the scheme.
"Planning permission for the demolition of the existing Newport Centre was granted in October and the timetable for the work to be carried out is being developed. It is anticipated this will take place in the spring.
"The council is working very closely with Newport Live on transitional arrangements for some of the activities delivered in the centre. Further details will be made available as soon as those arrangements are finalised."
Last year it was revealed that the new leisure centre in Newport will not have live music facilities like the existing Newport Centre. The decision prompted some in the city's arts scene to say it had "lost another opportunity." You can read more about that here. You can also read more about the big gigs held at Newport Centre over the years here.
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