Demolition work at a Newcastle leisure centre should finally begin next month, as council bosses insist delays will not hamper the building of its £26m replacement.
Contractors are set to start tearing down the existing swimming pool, library, and customer service centre in West Denton in May, it has been confirmed. That will pave the way for a state-of-the-art new facility, mostly funded with a £19.8m grant from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF), to take its place.
There have been concerns that rising costs for the project amid an inflation crisis, coupled with a March 2024 deadline being set for the LUF money to be spent, could threaten the new leisure centre. However, Newcastle City Council chiefs have remained bullish throughout and maintain that the scheme will go ahead – albeit at a cost around £4m higher than first planned and with its opening date delayed to December 2024.
