Stroud District Council takes over the management of Stratford Park Leisure Centre this November 2024 and is investing £2.7 million to repair and revamp the site.
After it was announced in 2023 that the council would be taking back control of the centre, it is closing for one week in November, before reopening with a new cafe serving locally sourced food, homemade cakes and barista-style coffee — and the new leisure service, called Active Lifestyles, will allow members to use the facilities at both Stratford Park Leisure Centre and The Pulse in Dursley.
Then over the next five years, £2.7 million of funding will go towards brickwork repairs, roofing, flooring, doors, lighting, decoration, air conditioning upgrades and the external toilet block at the Stroud centre.
The repair work forms part of the council's long-term investment plan to improve access to quality leisure opportunities in the district — which includes work to repair the tank and replace the pumps and plant at the 88-year-old Stratford Park Lido.
There are also plans to use excess energy from the leisure centre's new air source heat pumps to increase the lido's temperature by between three and five degrees.
Stroud District Council's head of community services, Angela Gillingham, said: 'We want a leisure service for everyone living in our district and we have thought long and hard about what we want to provide. We think this is an exciting first step on a whole new offering for our district.
'Our customers at our Dursley centre give us such glowing feedback and we now want to bring those standards to the Stroud centre.'
Community Services and Licensing Committee chair, Beki Aldam, added: 'These plans have been carefully drawn up to make sure that people living in one part of our district receive the same great services as people living in other parts. If you live in the Dursley area but work in Stroud, you now have the option where you use the gym, pool or take a class.'
Stratford Park Leisure Centre reopens under Stroud District Council management on Saturday 9 November 2024.
