Town swimming pool finally set to reopen two years on from first Covid lockdown
Swimmers will finally be able to return to a town pool later this month – almost two years after it was last open.
Rugeley’s swimming pool will reopen on Monday, February 28, it was revealed at a full meeting of Cannock Chase Council on Wednesday.
Council leader Olivia Lyons said: “It will open initially to local swimming clubs and members. From March 7 onwards it will be open to everybody, with a full programme. It will be completely open from that point.”
Budget papers presented to Wednesday’s meeting indicated that £394,000 had been earmarked for work on Rugeley’s swimming pool in 2021/22, with a further £190,000 for the leisure centre boiler.
In total there has been more than £1.2m investment in Rugeley Leisure Centre, which also includes a new artificial pitch and refurbishment of squash courts.
Rugeley Leisure Centre closed in March 2020 at the start of the first national lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus.
Leisure centres across the country were allowed to reopen in July 2020 and Rugeley’s Burnthill Lane facility welcomed customers back from August 2020. But the pool at Rugeley remained out of action after problems with tiling and a potential water leak were identified during lockdown.
Work was carried out to restore the pool structure, as well as install new filtration and heating systems, a new hot water and energy system and new tiling. There were hopes of reopening the facility in November 2021, but further issues were found relating to the overflow at the side of the pool.
Councillor Lyons, speaking in November, said: “It will delay the reopening of the pool and that’s incredibly disappointing, particularly being a Rugeley councillor. But the alternative is to not undertake that work and it could fail at any time.
“If we were to reopen the pool and the issue was to arise we would have to close the pool, drain it, dry it and tender for work again. The answer is to undertake the work now so it can be open for a long time in the future.”
The swimming pool at Rugeley Leisure Centre first opened in July 2008, following a 30-year campaign for the facility.
