Regeneration Game

Rushcliffe 1Nottingham’s Rushcliffe Arena has proudly announced a booming first seven months following a £13m refurbishment. After reopening in January, the fully regenerated site has gone from strength to strength and the centre’s impressive water leisure facilities make it a valuable asset to the local community. Owned by Rushcliffe Borough Council, and managed by Parkwood Leisure, the Arena was built on the footprint of the previous Rushcliffe Arena in West Bridgford.

It replaces the ageing leisure centre and brings a wide range of upgraded features. The new site boasts a six-lane, 25m pool – an improvement from the previous four-lane instalment – as well as a 13m x 9m teaching pool and a splashpad with water play activities.

Parkwood Leisure, which also manages the council’s other leisure centres and pools at Cotgrave, Keyworth and Bingham, was actively involved in project managing the 15-month build and consolidating services.

EXPERIENCED TEAM

Justin Palfrey, Parkwood’s Area Manager, has been involved in several successful large new-build projects in addition to opening and managing several leisure centres. He has overseen Parkwood’s Rushcliffe contract for eight years. The experienced team is headed up by centre manager, Luke Colaluca, who takes the helm at the new Arena, having previously managed another of Parkwood’s high-profile leisure centres.

The centre opened on January 3rd 2017 following a hugely successful build by the main contractor, Farrans and the pool plant installers, FT Leisure. The pool is treated by a mix of calcium hypochlorite and sulphuric acid. It also has a UV system to aid pool filtration and a state-of-the-art plant room. And whilst the day-to-day basis the pool is managed by Parkwood while there is a service maintenance agreement in place with FT Leisure.

Although the pool hasn’t been open for a full year, it is already estimated that around 15,000 people use it every month – which represents a 15 per cent increase compared to the pool that it replaced. Rushcliffe 2

LOCAL APPEAL

Area manager Justin Palfrey comments: “The pool is open to all, and typically attracts users from within a 20 minute drive – this extends beyond West Bridgford and includes large parts of Nottingham, particularly the area to the south of the River Trent.

“This pool is unique to the local community because it’s state-of-the-art and really meets local needs. The open layout of the pool hall with the teaching pool and splashpad also makes it particularly user-friendly and good for families.” The site has opened with a range of water-based activities on offer including general swims, lane swims, inflatable sessions and aqua fit.

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Rushcliffe Arena
Tel. 0115 9814 027
www.leisurecentre.com/rushcliffe-arena