What will take three weeks to fill and be a guaranteed splash?
It’s Huddersfield’s new swimming pools and the water is now being pumped into the main swimming and competition pool, which will hold 67,500litres of water.
Simon Sutcliffe, Project Manager for BAM Construction, explained: “If we wanted we could fill them in three days, but you don’t want to suddenly put the structure of the pool under the weight of the water all at once, so we’re filling them gradually and doing one pool at a time.”
And there’s no danger of leaks as it has already been leak tested.
The 25m competition pool, a 20-metre teaching pool and family leisure water pool called Splash Park has been fitted with 120 tonnes of tiles.
The roof of the sports centre is a mix of materials and one third of it will be a green roof.
Mr Sutcliffe added: “The benefits are to off-set carbon emissions, it will provide extra insulation and will support the local ecology.”
Clr Peter O’Neill, Kirklees Council's Cabinet member for Communities, Kirklees Active Leisure trustee Sinead Sopala and local ward members, Clrs Julie Stewart-Turner and Karen Allison, donned hard hats to tour the leisure centre and switched the tap on to fill the pools.
Clr O’Neill, a keen swimmer, said: “It is going to be a splendid asset for the people of Huddersfield and Kirklees as a whole and a place for people to spend their leisure time.
“We wanted it to be a big leisure centre to include as many activities as possible and for it to be as inclusive as possible, for people of all ages and abilities.”
Clr Stewart-Turner, Newsome Green, is a badminton player and uses the current sports centre twice a week.
She said: “Everyone at badminton is excited about moving over here. I am impressed at the scale and standard of the facilities and the main pool means that we can have competition standard swimming which is a great thing for Huddersfield.”
Clr Karen Allison, her ward and party colleague, added: “It is going to be such a fantastic asset and it is looking amazing.
“It really is inclusive – the hearing loop for the main pool shows the level of thought and detail.
“I swam a lot before I had children and I think this is what will bring me back to swimming.”
Those who pass the sports centre on the ring road can’t have failed to spot the ‘sidewinder’ in the window–- it’s a daring water slide to be used with inflatables.
The finishing touches will be added over the next 12 weeks before the fit-out gets underway and the centre is set to open in summer.
