St Sidwell's Point opening soon

But they still don't know when

Exeter’s landmark new leisure centre, designed to be the most energy efficient in the UK, is nearing completion.

St Sidwell’s Point, being constructed at a cost of £44 million on the site of Exeter’s former bus station, is the country’s first leisure centre built to the super energy-efficient Passivhaus standard.

It features an eight-lane, 25-metre main pool and four-lane, 20-metre learner pool, both with moveable floors, as well as a gym with 100 stations (such as treadmills, rowing machines etc), fitness studios and luxury spa facilities.

Although finishing touches are being applied, officials will not confirm a specific date for opening, other than it will be this spring.

The centre was initially due to be completed last summer, but has been affected by covid-related delays as construction workers have self-isolated, and delays in the supply chain for some building materials.

Council leader Phil Bialyk (Labour, Exwick), who was “absolutely amazed” during a tour on Monday, said it had been a vision of the administration for the last decade and was part of a wider strategy for leisure in the city.

“We’ve invested heavily in it as a facility for people in Exeter. We’ve brought the leisure facilities back in house – that’s 400 staff back employed by the city council delivering our leisure facilities.”

He defended the investment in the building, being funded by the city council, despite leisure services being classed as ‘discretionary’ which don’t need to be provided by local authorities.

“My main concern is the people of Exeter – my family, everybody else’s family who wants to use our facilities. This is a real big investment we’re making in the city and I think it’s going to have a good return for us all.”

Addressing the concerns of some people about the cost of St Sidwell’s Point, Cllr Bialyk added: “I understand those concerns. I often worry about it as well, but not worry about it in so far as it’s too much.

“We’ve got a business plan in place. I believe this is important to turn a profit at some stage [but] in the first year or two we’ve got to build the membership up.”

Exeter’s leisure membership fees start from £25 a month, which allow people to use the council’s other leisure centres as well as St Sidwell’s Point. A pay-as-you-go option will also be offered.

As well as the pools and gym, “premium spa facilities” include a hydro-bath, foot spa and hot beds, plus a salt vapour room, private bar and relaxation area, private roof terrace and a state-of-the-art sauna.

The gym will have around 100 stations, a designated free weights area plus group exercise zones – including an indoor cycling studio and two fitness studios.

The forthcoming opening comes at a challenging time for local authorities as they tackle the soaring cost of inflation along with some revenues still down due to covid. Exeter City Coucil says £6.5 million of cuts may needed over the next three years.

Portfolio holder for leisure Councillor Duncan Wood (Labour, Pinhoe) said: “Both the running costs and the build of this centre are not linked to the [council tax] rates people pay. The leisure service itself has to pay for itself.” He says the project is still within budget.

“St Sidwell’s Point is an absolutely jaw-dropping building. It is amazing. It’s not too much to say it’s the best you can get,” he said.

Doug Lloyd, regional director of the contractor Kier Construction, described it as a “really interesting project” as a lot of the firm’s workers have required significant upskilling to build such a hi-tech, eco-friendly building.

“In particular something like airtightness – where we’ve got an airtightness result that basically means that you’ve got a super, super airtight efficient building. It’s very heavily insulated but also creates a fantastic environment in here that the public will I’m sure enjoy.”

He said the site “changes this part of the city hugely and really puts Exeter on the map with regard to the leisure centre it’s providing.”