Leisure centre to close until 2020 as £7.5m upgrade starts

A SEASIDE leisure centre will shut at the end of the month for more than a year for a £7.5m upgrade.

The contract awarded to a Hull-based firm, Hobson and Porter, will see Hornsea’s library, customer service centre and resource centre merged on one site.

The plans for the two-storey extension and revamp split local opinion, with Hornsea Town Council objecting to facilities being relocated from the town centre amid concerns it would be difficult for the elderly to get to the new site.

However, the civic society was in support, along with dozens of residents.

Council leader Coun Steve Parnaby said it was “the largest single investment” the council had made in Hornsea, and similar schemes had improved services and cut costs.

New facilities will include an extended fitness centre, along with a new café, changing rooms and squash courts. The children’s centre may move in too.

The site is not due to re-open until Easter 2020, with users being offered a 50 per cent discount on membership at other centres including Beverley, and Withernsea. A range of 25 exercise classes a week will also be available at other venues in the town.

Coun John Whittle said the redevelopment would broadly be a “good thing” and he hoped it would prove as successful as the Haltemprice leisure centre scheme in Anlaby.