I think the council need to do some PR work on this part as for some reason most people seem to think its all money direct from the council, and they couldnt be more wrong.

nah, big assed loan that we'll have to pay back

Went again tonight for 'Gym members lane swimming'. There were just TWO lanes available in the whole pool for the gym members swimming. All the rest were for the wasps. Already a shower broken too and several lockers. There were muddy footprints throughout the changing village too, and dirty cubicles with puddles and talc all over the place. Obviously gets cleaned regularly... SOOOOO annoying with everybody standing in reception to watch too... At least with the old pool, people looking in from the street were some distance away. These are about two metres away from the pool at pool level.

"How the heck did WMBC raise the money to build this though????"
By borrowing private money through the PFI initiative, this was also used to build all the new "super schools" in simple terms, a mortgage that the ratepayers will be paying off for the next 30years.
These projects end up costing three times as much as their true cost.

Sorry to be so boring

Just for the record the Wasps as a swimming club don't exist any more. They were replaced a few years ago by Wigan BEST (Borough Elite Swim Team). Actually the people training are in the Wigan swim scheme of which some are registered with Wigan BEST for competitive swimming.

No Parking? Do what I've done for years in Wigan town centre, park up at the bottom end of Scholes and walk 500 yards to the baths.

Tight as cramp

Fookin' damn right. Xmas shopping, two foot of snow, cowder than a witches tit but I'd still rather walk from Scholes precinct to save ten bob.

Its tragic that despite this huge investment in Wigan town centre, many people who are just passing through will probably notice the abandoned Police station that stands opposite the Life Centre more than anything else.

For 217m surely it was possible to refurbish the old swimming pool as well as build a much needed arts centre too?

Or the disgusting sight that is the old town hall. That area is in desperate need of a facelift.

There's nothing like a nice 'Welcome to Wigan' than the abortion that is the 'Old Town Hall':



A ing embarrassment to the town.

Does anyone know the story behind that? Why is it half knocked down? Did it just crumble? I cant remember it not being like that....

The rest is listed IIRC

Yeah, it's a listed building which means they cannot level the fooker.

There must be a good few pubes knocking about too. Always are in places like that lol.

And whilst this has been built - and it seems not that great a facility, they are closing other local pools.

It's not just a pool/gym though. A lot of council office workers are now based there and most of the PCT staff who were based at Bryan House (above Maximes) have moved in as well.

Sorry, I can't agree with the Life Centre at all. I had a proper heated discussion with my GF about this because she thinks it's great.

It cost a fortune in times when the country can't afford it, and what's it replaced? I could understand it if they'd built this modern cost-efficient facility and it had replaced a load of decrepit council buildings that could then be, for instance, sold on to recoup some of the cost.

But it's not replaced ANYTHING. It's simply an expensive addition to the already bloated infrastructure in this town. The baths are smaller than the old ones. There are plenty private and council run gyms around so another is not needed. All the people who work there - where have they moved from, and what's happening with the where they've moved from?

It doesn't end there. The Wigan museum. That's the one you've never heard of in the old library at the bottom of Library Street. They spent a fortune on it, never marketed it, and as a result no-one visits, certainly not anyone I've ever spoken to anyway. It's also closed two days a week. A £2m (and the rest) refurb of a building worth £1m.

I'd be delighted if someone could prove me wrong on the above, and I'd be even more delighted if anyone could point out to me what is being SOLD in order to pay for these projects. No-one deserves to be in decrepit facilities at work, so in principle, I don't object to the Life Centre etc per se. What I do object to, is how it appears it's just another extravagant addition, rather than a replacement for something, that will actually benefit the town's coffers.

That is a HUGE downside. In this day and age, facilities like this need to be out of town.

Even the old pool was a feckup by our wonderful council.

It was meant to be Olympic sized so they could use it for official competitions. Only the idiots who built it forgot to factor in that the pool had to be tiled, and as a result, once it WAS tiled, it was slightly too short.

I wonder how much it cost us all for them to come up with that acronym?

An arts centre/concert hall/theatre would be a much better addition to Wigan, in my opinion. And it would make money.

If St Helens can get 52 weeks out of that tip, the Theatre Royal, and Warrington can out of the Parr Hall/Pyramid, I'm sure we can.

I'm quite happy payin 25 quid a month at dw. The pool is nice and clean and never busy at the times I go. The changing rooms dont quite fit my needs but I can live with that. and its free parking right at the front doors...

I was looking into joining at this new place but like people have said parkings a problem. For me I would end up spending double a month what I am now simply through having to park my car nearby. Certainly not leaving my car at the lower end of scholes.....

no matter how much of a heap of junk it is



And the timetable for the pool puts me off, I like going for a swim when I feel like it. Not when a timetable tells me I can.

The format of the building was a result of the grants available from central government. So don't be too critical of the council. I fought hard to retain a 50m pool in the borough but it was a non-starter because there were no grants for that! For that reason I do blame the council. We even proposed that they look at putting a 50m pool facility at Robin Park where there is parking but they wanted the free dosh and so the new town centre facility was the result. A short term financially driven venture!