Building work begins at Forest Hill Leisure Centre

Building work on the new Forest Hill Leisure Centre has begun with the occasion being marked with a ground-breaking ceremony on 21 February.

Hosted and officiated by Mark Tant, Managing Director of building contractors Willmott Dixon, the ceremony was attended by Sir Steve Bullock, the Mayor of Lewisham, and Chris Best, Cabinet Member for Community Services.

Sir Steve said: “I’m delighted that we’re now at a stage when we’re going to start seeing some real results. A lot people have devoted much time and energy on this project and I’m very excited that building work is now about to begin.

“We are well on target to ensure the leisure centre is open to the public by the end of 2012.”

Chris Best added: “I’m grateful to Willmott Dixon for demonstrating a real commitment to building a strong relationship with the architects Roberts Limbrick and the local stakeholder group set up by the Council to liaise closely with residents.

“Willmott Dixon has made excellent progress since we awarded the contract to them in November. Not only have they moved quickly to prepare the site but they’ve also completed necessary remedial work on Louise House so the building can be used as their site office during construction. In the long term, both the Council and the local community stand to benefit when the building is handed back over because of the essential maintenance carried out.”

Mark Tant said: “We’re very pleased with the progress we’ve made so far and Louise House makes a fine site office. We’re off to a good start and we hope the local community think so too. We will continue to keep everyone informed with our progress both through our regular newsletters and through information posted up in Forest Hill Library.”

The new Forest Hill Leisure Centre will consist of two new pools and other leisure facilities on the site of the former Forest Hill Pools. Facilities in the new building will include a 25-metre pool, a 16.7-metre learner pool, fitness gym, two studios, community room and a café. The new development will include facilities and access for those people with disabilities. The existing Victorian frontage of Forest Hill Pools will be retained.