The existing Finchley Lido Leisure Centre opened 27 years ago is now deemed not fit-for-purpose, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter
Council members have approved outline proposals to renovate and expand a recreational complex in North Finchley at a potential expense of up to £45.7 million.
The Finchley Lido Leisure Centre, which opened in 1996, is scheduled to be razed and rebuilt after Barnet Council declared its current structure unfit for use last year.
After a resounding majority of locals expressed a desire for the centre to remain, the town hall promised to preserve it at its current location at council-owned Great North Leisure Park, which has been designated for a new housing development.
Tuesday, the 14th, saw the council’s cabinet endorse a preliminary business case for the center’s reconstruction.
The new centre would be erected on a vacant outdoor bowling green outside the area leased to developer Regal London, which is creating plans to construct new homes on the 4.4-hectare leisure park. This is the council’s preferred alternative, which is projected to cost between £40m and £45.7m.
Together with a learner pool, three exercise studios, a 690 square metre gym, and a replacement swimming pool and lido, the new building would also feature these amenities. In addition, there would be a cafe, soft play areas, saunas, steam baths, and health consultation rooms inside the indoor adventure zone.
This alternative “offers a broad range of facilities for residents of all ages and abilities,” and the current leisure complex “will remain,” according to a report given to the cabinet meeting open and operational until a new facility is constructed”.
In an effort to establish “a destination for leisure, arts and cultural uses, and food and beverage,” the plans call for moving other current recreational amenities from Great North Leisure Park, like the movie theatre and indoor bowling alley, to North Finchley town centre.
Regal London has agreed to build the new recreation complex in exchange for the council extending the site’s lease and lifting some use limitations under a draught development agreement that is still being negotiated and may alter.
The new recreation centre is scheduled to be built at a premium cost to the council, with up to £17 million in additional funding provided by the local government.
Ammar Naqvi, the cabinet member for culture, leisure, arts, and sports for Barnet, informed the gathering on Tuesday that the plan will give residents better facilities and establish “the perfect equilibrium” between revenue generation and investment.
The facilities combination offered by option B, according to Dawn Wakeling, the council’s director of communities, adults, and health, is the “closest match” to what locals and current users said they wanted to see when they were surveyed on the ideas.
The suggestions will eventually be presented to the cabinet for approval with a comprehensive business case. A timeframe outlined in the paper suggests that designs for the site’s reconstruction may be presented in the spring of the following year, with the new recreation complex scheduled to open in the winter of 2027.
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