Long-delayed work to refurbish a Liverpool leisure centre has been hit with more setbacks but a date for completion of one of its major flaws has now been confirmed.
After years of waiting, Liverpool Council signed off on work to upgrade and repair the dilapidated Peter Lloyd Lifestyles leisure centre in Tuebrook. An urgent decision was taken by officers in August to green light the pot of cash needed to bring the popular location back into service.
A total of £1.4m has been made available for the work, with more than half - £753,000 - to be used in repairing the roof by contractors Liquid Roofing and Kier building services for project fees. A further £336,000 has been earmarked for “nonessential internal refurbishments” according to the decision report.
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However, according to an update from Cllr Harry Doyle, assistant mayor and cabinet member for culture and visitor economy, the works were slowed down yet again by “wet weather and an issue with loading capacity with the roof being unable to hold the new, thicker insulation.” In his written report to the select committee ahead of its meeting on Thursday, Cllr Doyle confirmed the issue had been resolved and was able to update members on a potential completion date for roof upgrades.
Peter Lloyd has been shut since the start of the covid-19 pandemic with a number of the city’s other Lifestyles centres being able to reopen as the government lifted restrictions. Cllr Doyle said: “The revised anticipated completion date for the roof works remains as mid-February 2023 subject to weather conditions.
“Scoping work has also now begun on the internal works that will go out to tender so that they can begin as soon as the roof works are complete.” The closure of the site since the beginning of the pandemic is estimated to have lost the local authority £1m a year in potential revenue.
The site is unable to open to the public in any form in its current state of repair. In the summer of 2021, an initial survey of the roof was undertaken and subsequently a budget of £417k was allocated to renewing the roof from the 2021/22 capital budget.
Other Lifestyles centres which were shut at the start of the pandemic, Everton Park and Park Road, were able to reopen to visitors last year. Mayor Joanne Anderson said progress in Tuebrook had not been good enough.
Addressing the culture and visitor economy select committee in July, Cllr Doyle said Peter Lloyd had been “one of my biggest frustrations” as it was one of the council’s highest earning sites. As part of the budget proposals to bridge its £73m funding shortfall, the local authority is considering handing operations of its leisure centres to an external firm.
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