Boost in visitor numbers for Spalding’s Ayscoughfee Museum but figures are dropping at the Castle Sports Complex
A massive increase has been seen in the number of people visiting a museum while a drop has been reported at a leisure centre.
Ayscoughfee Hall Museum and Gardens in Spalding has received a total of 10,652 visitors during the first two quarters of this year, members of South Holland District Council’s Performance Monitoring Panel were told.
The Churchgate museum welcomed 3,713 visitors during the first quarter and 6,939 during the second quarter. A total of 7,789 visitors went along to the museum during the final three quarters of the previous year.
Ayscoughfee is currently hosting Spalding Gentlemen’s Society while its Broad Street museum is closed as part of a major refurbishment and expansion project. This is thought to be one of the reasons for the increased number of visitors along with the school holidays, according to a council report.
Meanwhile over at the Castle Sports Complex - which is due to be getting a £26million makeover - numbers have started to drop.
It received 29,565 during the first quarter of this year but this has fallen to 26,287 in the second quarter. It had 27,321 visitors during the second quarter of last year and 35,780 during the fourth quarter.
But the swimming pool received 58,037 visitors during the second quarter of this year which is higher than the 50,534 who attending during the same period last year.
The number of swims at the pool has risen in the second quarter to 21,843 from 13,881 in the same period last year.
Swimming lessons have risen from 11,577 in quarter 2 of last year to 17,147 in the same period of 2024.
Phil Perry, Leisure and Culture assistant director, told the last panel meeting that numbers will bounce back once the building project at the Castle Sports Complex is completed.
The ageing Castle Sports Complex in Spalding is due to be getting a major revamp, which will include new swimming pools and 3G pitches, after securing a £20million Levelling Up grant last year.