Dudley Leisure Centre work could start in March - as cost spirals to £31m
Work to build a long-awaited new leisure centre in Dudley could begin early next year - as more details emerged on why the overall scheme has spiralled to £31 million.
Council bosses are targeting March as a start date for building work at Flood Street, the site of the town's state-of-the-art new centre, and it is hoped it will be ready by summer 2021.
Leisure centres in Stourbridge and Halesowen will also undergo major revamps and bosses are now considering carrying out the refurbishments separately and closing both temporarily so the works can be completed sooner.
A new report has also lifted the lid on reasons for the cost of the project rising from £24m to £31m. Designs for the leisure centres have been revised since they were first put forward as it was not deemed to be of high enough standard and the new Dudley centre will now be fitted with "enhanced cladding and brickwork" and "enhanced glazing and lighting", adding millions onto the bill.
Dudley Council said the extra cost would be paid for through "prudential borrowing".
A council report said: "The latest total forecast cost for the works at the three sites is now £31.3m. Although the brief for the new Dudley Leisure Centre is still for a Sport England Option D model with an additional studio and café, the design has been enhanced to ensure that the scheme meets planning requirements and the borough’s design quality aspiration for new build regeneration projects.
"This has resulted in enhanced cladding and brickwork, a feature entrance and enhanced glazing and lighting being included in the revised design. As the project has evolved and surveys of the proposed site have been carried out, more information is now available regarding the Flood Street site and additional costs can be attributed to service diversions which need to be carried out but were not allowed for in the original budget costs. In addition to the increased costs at Dudley, the budget costs at all three centres were based on a timeline of carrying out detailed design work in June 2018. Build cost inflation accounts for a significant amount of the increase in costs."
Council leader Patrick Harley said last week he wanted to see the new leisure centre up and running in Dudley as quickly as possible as "time is of the essence".
Its opening will aim to coincide with the extension of the Midland Metro into Dudley and the centre will be next to a new tram stop, in a bid to encourage as many people as possible to use it.
