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19
Dec 2022
Cost of delayed Harrogate Hydro refurbishment increases by £1m
Harrogate Borough Council has revealed the cost of Harrogate Hydro's delayed refurbishment has increased by about £1 million to about £12.8 million.
The Stray Ferret reported this month the reopening of the leisure facility, originally scheduled for next month, had been pushed back until summer next year.
The council said this was due to discovering "some additional areas of work that could only have come to light when the building was closed and a strip-out of the internal fabric had taken place".
In a press release today, the council gave a breakdown of the additional costs, which will be met by taxpayers. They are:
- Replacement of the defective external soffit boarding – £306,893
- Renewal of the existing moveable floor in the diving pool – £299,918
- Replacement of corroded steel frame elements – £330,258.66
The refurbished Hydro will include a pool, new diving structure, 400 square metre fitness suite, sauna and steam suite and new reception and café, as well as a reconfigured car park, bicycle storage and electric vehicle charging points.
The existing gas boilers have been replaced with air-source heat pumps and 250 solar panels, along with new metering and energy monitoring and control systems, which are expected to halve the carbon footprint of the leisure centre.
How the Hydro used to look.
Councillor Stanley Lumley, the council's cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, and chair of the board of directors at the council-controlled Brimhams Active, said:
The council added the new leisure and wellness centre In Knaresborough was on target to open at the end next summer.
It will provide a six-lane 25-metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, spin studio, café, electric car charging points and bicycle storage.
Read more:
- Harrogate Hydro reopening delayed until summer
- Harrogate council company to run leisure centres in Selby
- Harrogate leisure chief defends Ripon pool location amid ground stability concern
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