THE new chair of Live Argyll has expressed hope for Helensburgh Leisure Centre to reopen as soon as possible in 2026.
Mairi Coleman recently took over the chair of the leisure trust, following the retiral of Andrew Nisbet, as it faces up to challenges in the New Year.
It has been almost a year since Helensburgh Leisure Centre closed, as a result of extensive roof damage caused by Storm Eowyn on Friday, January 24.
A temporary roof has been installed at the building, with the latest update from Argyll and Bute Council stating hope to reopen by the end of March.
Ms Coleman said that the time since the closure had been challenging, but praised Live Argyll staff for the way they have worked.
She said: “The way the licence agreement works for Live Argyll is that the council owns and manages the building in terms of maintenance, but we manage and deliver the services, and provide the staff to run the building.
“We have done a massive amount of work to mitigate the impact by moving the gym into the library, the library to the pavilion and classes to the Victoria Halls.
“The challenge has been what we call the wet side activities, as you cannot lift a swimming pool and drop it into another building.
“So the hope is that we continue to work with the council and facilities team, and continue to work collaboratively to get the building open as soon as possible. It is vital for people, but also for us to protect our income.”
As a result of the centre’s closure, its gym facilities are now located in the Helensburgh Library building, also operated by Live Argyll, on West King Street. The library itself is now in Hermitage Park Pavilion.
Asked about plans to return the library and gym to their usual sites when the building reopens, Ms Coleman said: “The phasing of that and the timescale is being worked through, but it is absolutely the plan.”
She added: “It has been challenging to say the least, on a number of different fronts. First and foremost there is the reputational impact.
“A lot of people do not understand that the council delivers the building for us and we have to work with them. The council has had a huge number of challenges to move it forward.
“We are very proud of how our staff have stepped up to the plate. We had fitness classes and gym facilities within a couple of weeks of the storm. That is incredible when you think of the challenges of moving equipment from one building to another.
“Income has been a really big challenge, so we have worked with the council on how we mitigate that.
“Our staff really stepped up in managing what was a really difficult situation, and managed it in the best way they could.”
