Work to start on £36m outdoor sports centre upgrade

Work is due to start on Monday on a £36m upgrade to a leisure and sports park, a council has announced.

New buildings, pitches and a skatepark are planned for the 150-acre (60ha) Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre, with completion scheduled for early 2027.

The park's outdoor artificial ski slope will also be transformed, with new lifts and a ski lodge.

Southampton councillor Toqeer Kataria, in charge of leisure, said the project would improve activity levels and create jobs.

He said: "I am delighted that the works to the Outdoor Sports Centre project are about to start.

"The new state-of-the-art facilities will also significantly help improve health inequalities often felt by our most deprived communities."

The sports centre opened in 1938 with the objective of promoting health, the government previously said.

It allocated £20m from the Levelling Up Fund towards the scheme in February 2024, when the total cost was put at £30m.

An additional £6m was allocated from council resources earlier this year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

New buildings on the site will include The Hub, incorporating a gym, cafe, and "two covered netball and tennis courts", the council said.

An athletics track grandstand, a skatepark and three new artificial grass football pitches will also be added.

A bike park with obstacles and ramps will be retained, but a long-disused boating lake will disappear.

Some existing facilities will be affected by the work, with updates on closures due from contractor Morgan Sindall.

The site also includes a mini-funfair, the Children's Pleasure Park, which is temporarily closed.

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