From the GLL website.....
We are pleased to inform you the following statement regarding the opening of Crystal Palace National Sports Centre has now been release from the London Development Agency:
"The LDA's refurbishment works at the National Sports Centre have been extended because of the scale and variety of problems we have discovered since the works began -- including the removal of asbestos."
"The works now encompass upgrading all changing rooms, exercise studios and arena; lengthening the main swimming pool to meet current specifications; the total re-plumbing and re-wiring of the building, including the renewal or refurbishment of the entire heating, power and pool filtration plant; replacing thermal and acoustic insulation material throughout the building; repairing roof joints and windows; and renewing the lighting and fire-alarm systems."
"The NSC is a large facility -- well over three times the size of most local sports centres -- and its listed status also means that it must be treated with particular care."
"These works have pushed back the re-opening of the building. We now plan to re-open the Centre in April 2009, and we look forward to seeing Crystal Palace once again take its place as a major centre for sport in London."
National Sports Centre..they could've told us six months ago
What annoys me most is that no-one - not the staff, or the users of the facility - has a clue what's going on. Until last week, the staff reckoned it would be reopened by christmas. Mind you, they originally thought it would be open by May, June, September and then November too.
A few weeks ago, GLL produced a glossy four-page leaflet explaining how CO2 emissions would be cut, and praising its customer satisfaction ratings. It didn't explain what work was actually being done to the place, when it would be finished - and whether they had now changed their plans to shut the pool, and build a new one next to the stadium (what the LDA told us would happen). This is the kind of stuff ordinary punters actually want clarity on.
I wrote to them and asked them for an update - and heard nothing.
A few weeks ago, GLL produced a glossy four-page leaflet explaining how CO2 emissions would be cut, and praising its customer satisfaction ratings. It didn't explain what work was actually being done to the place, when it would be finished - and whether they had now changed their plans to shut the pool, and build a new one next to the stadium (what the LDA told us would happen). This is the kind of stuff ordinary punters actually want clarity on.
I wrote to them and asked them for an update - and heard nothing.