Lincolnshire County Council plans to hand over money to The Anthem Trust, which runs The Deepings School, to demolish Deepings Leisure Centre
A council plans to ‘break the deadlock’ on a closed leisure centre by handing over funding to a school trust for its likely demolition.
The Deepings Leisure Centre Community Interest Company (CIC) revealed last night (February 20) it had come to ‘the end of the road with the project’ to reopen the facility in Park Road.
Within 24 hours, plans to demolish the site have been revealed by Lincolnshire County Council.
Conservative leader council Martin Hill said the council is keen to break the deadlock on this situation, which has been rumbling on since the site’s initial closure in 2021, and start the ball rolling on plans to bring community leisure facilities back to the Deepings.
He said: “The county council has been very patient throughout this process and provided a number of extensions in the hopes that the parties involved would come to an arrangement.
“However, as the owners of the building, we cannot allow it to continue to deteriorate indefinitely without action. It would be unsafe and does a disservice to the residents of the Deepings.”
The Deeping St James leisure centre closed in August 2021 due to serious safety concerns caused by a leaky roof and has stood empty ever since.
After agreeing to refurbish it, South Kesteven District Council ditched plans to spend £10.7 million on repairs to the leisure centre and handed the lease back to owner Lincolnshire County Council, which put it up for sale.
The CIC submitted an offer and was guaranteed financial support of £850,000 from both Lincolnshire County Council and South Kesteven District Council to move the project forward.
But a Government funding scheme being closed caused a ‘catastrophic set back’ and while a new solution was put forward, in partnership with The Anthem Trust which runs The Deepings School, an agreement could not be reached.
Coun Hill said: “Our £850,000 remains committed to the project and we are now advancing with the first phase.
“We plan to sign a lease agreement with the Anthem Trust and then, as per their request, provide this funding for them to demolish the former leisure centre.”
The academy has been exploring options to build a new sports hall, gym and studio on the site - but no swimming pool.
A spokesperson for The Anthem Trust said it is committed to providing permanent sports facilities which will be made available for use by the wider community.
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