Changes to Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre revamp
There's concern about soaring prices
Spiralling costs mean the multi-million-pound plans for Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre are being revised, with Covid and Brexit blamed.
Changes to the transformation plans for the Thornhill Road, Bassett, venue are being ‘simplified’, with changes to the layout and reducing the number of covered tennis courts.
In August 2023, Southampton City Council gave the green light to renovate the sports centre entre and add a new ski lodge, community hub, three floodlit astroturf pitches, cycle track, athletics clubhouse and many other features.
The council then agreed it would spend £20 million on the refurbishment and it said the masterplan would deliver £98.8 million of monetary benefits.
A 12-week consultation carried out in 2021 saw 97 per cent agree that they would like to see improvements at the centre, and 85 per cent said that they would use the centre more if the proposed changes were made.
But the council has not said the projected cost of the works has risen and the budget won’t cover “market fluctuations” in the building industry. Officers blamed supply problems caused by “Covid-19, Brexit and geo-political issues”.
The council also realised that additional ducting costs to all car parking spaces to future-proof the site were initially considered, leading to increased costs.
Changes now proposed include reducing the size of the proposed hub, cutting the number of covered tennis courts from three to two, changing the alpine lodge design, moving the learner slope and changing the materials used.
The city council said the changes “do not diverge significantly” from the original masterplan of facilities proposed in the 2021 public consultation.
After cabinet members backed the changes, the council will submit the family zone and design changes to planners in March.
This family zone will include outdoor gym equipment, a skateboard area, a cycling pump track, a learn-to-ride cycling track, a children’s play area and a splash pad.
A ‘family zone’ pavilion with bicycle maintenance, store and electric charging, a tea/coffee server, toilets including baby changing facilities, and an external athletic track store are also wanted.
According to the council’s forecast, the main works will start in autumn this year, assuming all timelines are met and the contract is achieved for the summer.
This scheme has secured external funding of £30.085m, including £20m from the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) and £4m from the Football Foundation.