Long-delayed 50-metre pool set to open

THE long-awaited opening of the city’s only 50-metre swimming pool is set to happen next month – almost a year after first planned.

The University of Birmingham has announced its new £55 million 360 Sport & Fitness complex will be ready for use on May 22 – bringing to an end a succession of planned openings which had to be cancelled because the building was not ready.

The new sports venue will have Birmingham’s only 50-metre pool, a sports arena capable of hosting 900 specta- tors, dance studios, gym and squash courts as well as the performance centre which specialises in sports science and medicine.

Vice-chancellor Sir David Eastwood said: “This is a landmark occasion for the university and the city. We are delighted to be opening the doors to a pioneering facility which will enhance Birmingham’s existing world-class sporting infrastructure and contribute to the city’s and region’s ambitions to attract global events to Birmingham and the West Midlands.”

The opening has been hit by a series of delays spanning almost a year with little explanation behind the problems.

In December, the university and its contractor Interserve was forced to announce its fourth postponement of the grand launch with neither willing to put forward another a predicted opening date.

The new facility, which sits at the main Bristol Road entrance to the university’s campus in Edgbaston, will replace the existing Munrow Sports Centre near the University railway sta- tion and is open to the public as well as staff and students.

The pool, which has been filled with water since August, will join Coventry’s as only the second 50-metre facility in the West Midlands and forms part of the wider regeneration of the campus.

Totalling around £300 million worth of investment, it features a new library, which opened in September, halls of residence, hotel and conference centre, sports pitches and science teaching rooms among other work.