Market Drayton swimming centre and Quarry pool reopening dates set
Dates have at last been set for the reopening of two Shropshire towns' swimming pools.
The Market Drayton Swimming Centre and the Quarry pool in Shrewsbury have been shut since the early stages of the coronavirus lockdown, with the reopening being delayed by the necessary adjustments to ventilation in both buildings.
Now the Shropshire Community Leisure Trust has announced the Market Drayton centre will reopen on October 19 and the Quarry will follow suit on November 2.
Chris Stanbrook, contract manager for the trust, said: “With the ventilation works due to be completed very soon at both sites, ensuring they’ll be Covid-19-safe facilities, I am delighted to announce reopening dates for the Quarry and Market Drayton Swimming & Fitness Centre.
“Market Drayton will be reopening on Monday, October 19, while the Quarry will follow two weeks later on Monday, November 2. The later date for the Quarry is simply due to the ventilation work taking longer to complete.
“When Market Drayton Swimming & Fitness Centre does open, we’ll be offering a full range of activity sessions, including swimming lessons, family swim, use of the gym and more.
"At the Quarry, we’ll be opening the gym and the 25m pool initially for lane and club swimming. We are looking into ways to offer swimming lessons and will update customers when we have news on that.
“Although we’re seeing healthy attendance numbers at our other sites, we’re aware that some people are still a little nervous about re-entering a fitness facility. However, as a trust we can assure customers and colleagues that when they visit a Shropshire Community Leisure Trust centre, they’ll be at a Covid-19 safe venue.
Research from ukactive shows gyms and fitness facilities are experiencing extremely low levels of coronavirus infections among visitors.
“I’d like to thank our client, Shropshire Council, for their support in getting these centres open, and thank teams at the sites and our customers who’ve shown great patience while this essential work is carried out,” Mr Stanbrook added.
Shropshire Community Leisure Trust has introduced a series of social distancing and safety measures at all its sites, including one-way systems, a reduction in workout class sizes, more space between gym equipment and a greatly increased cleaning schedule.
For the full list of safety procedures to follow at each centre and how to book into sessions when they do open, visit the trust’s website.
The trust’s other facilities at Shrewsbury Sports Village and Oswestry Leisure Centre reopened on July 25, while its Whitchurch Swimming Centre site remains closed, as it is currently not possible to enforce government social distancing guidelines within the ageing building.
