School children help with pool filling at new Horley Leisure Centre
Children from Manorfield School kick-started the filling of the swimming pool at the new Horley Leisure Centre last week, as the £9 million project nears completion.
The 25 metre, six lane swimming pool and the teaching pool took almost three days to fill. It will take a further two days to purify the water and six days to get up to the temperature required for swimming.
The water is being filtered using UV light, meaning that it will use half the amount of chlorine than usually required for a pool of its size.
When filled, the main pool will hold over 500 cubic metres of water – that’s the equivalent to almost 3,670 bath tubs!
The new centre in Anderson Way, off Court Lodge Road, is set to open in the new year, but could open sooner if the project finishes ahead of schedule.
Important milestone
Cllr Adam De Save, Executive Member for Healthy Communities, said: “We are pleased that the children from Manorfield School could help us mark this important milestone in the construction of the new Horley Leisure Centre.
"They really enjoyed themselves and their involvement in filling the pool is something that they will be able to look back on in years to come.
“Construction of the new centre is almost complete and we are hoping that to be able to open the doors a little earlier than planned. It will vastly improve sport and leisure opportunities for local people.
"We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from residents and sports clubs, who are really looking forward to being able to use it for the first time.”
Fantastic facilities
Once the construction of the building is complete, it will be handed over to GLL, the Council’s leisure centre operators, to kit the centre out.
As well as two pools, the new Horley Leisure Centre will provide a state-of-the-art gym with 45 exercise stations and free weights, a four-court multi-use sports hall and an exercise and dance studio.
It will also have separate male, female, family and disabled changing areas and reception with viewing gallery.
School visits
The Council has been working with Manorfield School, in Sangers Drive, throughout the Horley Leisure Centre project.
Children have been treated to guided tours of the site at various stages of the build, officers from the Council and contractors, Pellikaan, have given talks in their assemblies and last July, some of the older pupils buried time capsules outside the entrance to the centre, to be dug up in 25 years’ time.
Last updated : 30/11/2011
