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£36m Perthshire recreation centre is delayed again

£36m Perthshire recreation centre is delayed again

Daily Record4 days ago
Mid-July estimate for handover of new Blairgowrie Recreation Centre to Perth and Kinross Council was not met.
The long-awaited handover of Blairgowrie's new £36m recreation centre to Perth and Kinross Council has been delayed.

It is the latest in a series of setbacks surrounding the state-of-the-art facility, which was expected to open in December last year.

Leaks were discovered after its swimming pool - which has a moveable floor - was filled with water.

Contractors spent months working to resolve the issue.
Building work on replacing Blairgowrie Recreation Centre began in June 2023 - after years of delays blamed on Brexit, the Covid pandemic and market volatility caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Councillors were told by PKC property chief Stephen Crawford earlier this year that the delays were 'not acceptable' . He also said in June: 'The pool is now full and we're working through commissioning of the centre — hopefully to get handover mid-July.'

But this week a PKC councillor said the delay again relates to continuing issues with leaks.
Blairgowrie and Glens Conservative councillor Bob Brawn told the PA this week: 'It is my understanding that we are close to handover for the new recreation centre.
'After so many years of preparation, design and finally building, it is frustrating that we've had delays at the last minute.

'This relates to a leaking pool liner.
'However, PKC cannot take on the facility until it's in full order which is all we're waiting for.
'The pool has a moving floor which understandably is of complicated design and any problems would not necessarily be unexpected. All being well, these may well be behind us.

'As a result, the proposed phase two demolition of the existing building will be delayed just to ensure all is well in the new one.'
Blairgowrie and Glens SNP councillor Tom McEwan said he understood final legal and practical details are currently being sorted out with an announcement on the opening expected very soon.
At a council meeting in April Conservative councillor Caroline Shiers called for a clear timeline and said: 'We were heading for a post-Christmas opening and then we were going to go and work off our Easter eggs and now we're looking at maybe it's our summer bodies we'll be working on.

'I think the community has been very, very patient and that has been appreciated but an indication of a projected handover and then opening time would be helpful.'
Work on the replacement centre got underway in June 2023 after the project was continually held up.
It was agreed that the centre would open early 2025 to avoid disruption to Blairgowrie High School's prelim timetable with pupils sitting exams there both before and after the Christmas holidays.

As well as the swimming pool the new centre has a four-court sports hall, two-court sports hall/gymnasium, fitness suite; dance studio, changing facilities, PE classroom, office and a floodlit synthetic outdoor pitch.
It has been hailed as being Scotland's first leisure centre to be built to environmentally-friendly Passivhaus standards, for the use of both Blairgowrie High School and the wider community.
Earlier this year PKC leader Grant Laing — who described the catalogue of delays as 'extremely frustrating' — asked PKC's scrutiny and performance committee to carry out a review of the issues which led to the delays.
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson told the PA this week that the 'mid-July' assurance was 'not a firm date' and added: 'We will announce the opening date in due course.'
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