The scale of Huddersfield’s new sports centre will become clear as the steel frame is erected.

Structural work has started on the new £36m leisure centre and the first section of the steel frame is now visible.

Over the next few weeks people passing the site at Springwood will see the centre take shape with huge mobile cranes lifting the steel columns and beams of the structure.

So far 56 jobs have been created on the site – 20 of the workers are from Huddersfield and the remaining from within the Leeds City Region area, which covers the five West Yorkshire councils and neighbouring authorities.

Clr Mehboob Khan, council leader, explained: “The erection of the steel framework will mark a significant milestone in the next phase of the building work.

“The foundations have been laid, and the crane will be used to lift the 1,000 tonnes of steel and 500 tonnes of precast floor units into place.

“The main beams over the main pool are up to 34m long. The 6ft deep fabricated box beams will support the roof and create the clear spans over the 25m competition pool.

“The building work is on schedule which means we will have a new centre open to the public in 2015.”

Simon Sutcliffe, project manager for BAM Construction, the contractor, said: “Having been on site for 14 weeks, starting the steel frame on time is a major milestone in the project.

“At last the public will begin to see their leisure centre appearing above the hoardings.”

The new leisure centre will be owned by the council and managed by Kirklees Active Leisure.

It is being funded by an unknown amount from Tesco, which will relocate to the current sports centre site, and Kirklees Council.