A DEBT-RIDDEN community centre is set to re-open.

The DRAM Centre, in Ridgeway, Dalton, closed in October with debts of at least £110,000 in bills and rent.

But yesterday Kirklees Leisure Services (KLS), who ran the centre, announced it would be reopening within the next three weeks once gas, water and electricity supplies were reconnected.

The centre will be run by a new manager but the identity is yet to be confirmed.

A spokesman for Kirklees Council said: “We are currently reviewing the long term management arrangements and in the interim it will be managed by Kirklees Council’s Culture and Leisure Services.

“The groups who used the site will be informed just as soon as we have fixed an opening date. We hope that these groups will be able to use the same facilities as they have in the past.”

Dalton councillor Roger Battye welcomed the news but said it was important for the centre to rebuild its reputation.

The state of the centre’s debts remains unknown.

Clr Battye said: “The first thing is getting it open, developing it and making it sustainable.

“It’s about re-launching it all and building up a good reputation from a patchy reputation.”

The news has also been welcomed by Moldgreen Rugby Club who had used the centre, next to their pitch, for changing, showering and socialising.

The Pennine League club, which has eight teams, became reliant on pubs as places for their 100 players to get changed.

Club chairman Brian Tracey said: “I’m very happy it’s re-opening. Its closure affected us a club pretty badly.

“The centre has much better resources and it’s on site so it makes things a lot easier.

“With us having so many teams the DRAM Centre was like a base and even when we were playing away from home we would come back there.

“When it closed we weren’t seeing each other as much and it was affecting our fundraising.

“We’re certainly looking forward to going back there. It will be a definite morale boost to have the old base back.”

The £1.6m DRAM Centre opened in 2004 on a site used by Moldgreen Rugby Club.

It was funded by Sport England, an initiative called the DRAM (Dalton, Rawthorpe and Moldgreen) regeneration programme, Lottery money and Kirklees Council, but was run independently.

It has a range of sporting facilities as well as function rooms and bars.