Massive transformation at the Riverside nears completion

Published: 21 May 2021

The pool and health suite at the Riverside Leisure centre have been completely transformed ahead of their long-awaited reopening on Saturday 24 July.

The tired and dated interior swimmers may remember has been swept away and replaced with a fresh new colour scheme, modern look and new facilities throughout.

As these latest pictures show, visitors will experience a completely new changing area, new health suite and sauna and new tiling.

The main pool is due to start being refilled next week – a process which will take up to four weeks to complete.

The poolside and health suite have been transformed since they were forced to close following a major fire in 2017.

The transformation has been created following a huge investment of around £5.6m from the City Council, which now runs Exeter’s leisure service directly and no longer uses a third party operator.

The investment was necessary after fire damage repair works uncovered major structural weaknesses with the fabric of the building which had to be rectified to make the building safe.

The huge transformation programme has created:

• New changing areas and first floor changing rooms with new tiling, wall cladding, cubicles
• New coinless lockers which open electronically - there will be no need for coins anywhere inside the leisure centre
• New Health Suite which has been rebuilt with a steam room, sauna and spa pool
• New acoustic baffles and wall acoustic material fitted above the pool
• New flooring on the balcony and seating area has been fitted and modern spectator seating installed
• New plant serving the main and learner pools, alongside other mechanical and electrical engineering work, to improve the future operation of the facility

Many of the new facilities are the same as the same as those planned for St Sidwell’s Point, which is due to open later this year.

Cllr Duncan Wood, Lead Councillor for Leisure and Physical Activity, said: “We’ve had a long wait but I am so pleased that the pool and health suite are finally set to reopen.

“The transformation is striking – this is now a fresh, bright and modern facility which will serve the residents of this city for decades to come.”

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