IMPRESSIVE £3M improvement plans for Sheffield’s Ponds Forge International Sports Centre will start this summer.
The extensive multi-million pound scheme to transform the Fitness Unlimited gym and changing areas at Ponds Forge highlights a massive investment for facility managers Sheffield International Venues (SIV). The high-profile investment plan confirms the company’s pledge to continue providing quality facilities at a budget price whilst remaining highly competitive with privately operated rivals.
It will provide the people of Sheffield with a bigger, brand new state of the art gym, spacious exercise studios and an improved health suite all serviced by brand new changing rooms for both wet and dry users.
The new Fitness Unlimited gym will be considerably bigger covering an area of 1250 sq m to include over 100 stations, air conditioning and high spec fitness equipment to ultimately provide a much better service to the thousands of fitness fans and anticipated future users.
Steve Brailey, SIV chief executive said: “This is excellent news and a great boost for Fitness Unlimited members in the centre. The reinvestment means we can meet the ever-rising expectations of customers for quality and value for money and competition from other swim and fitness providers in the city.
“The overwhelming benefits will be to Fitness Unlimited members. Improving the gym will also help us address our plans to help generate greater business at off-peak times and seek further usage from those groups which are currently the least active in sport and physical activity.
“Our improvements at Hillsborough Leisure Centre and Concord Sports Centre have already paid dividends and helped us reach new standards of gym membership and we hope the same will be delivered at Ponds Forge. These are exciting plans and we have been given exceptional backing by Sheffield City Council. The council is a great supporter of our Fitness Unlimited scheme.”
The year-long transformation plan will be delivered by SIV which currently operates 14 sports, leisure and entertainment venues across the city, and Sheffield City Trust working closely with Sheffield City Council.
Plans would see the current ‘temporary’ gym, housed in the foyer of Ponds Forge, being relocated to The Roundhouse. The project coincides with the planned move of the Last Laugh Comedy Club to Sheffield City Hall which provides the increased capacity needed to fulfil the extremely high demand for tickets following a run of sell out shows.
Steve added: “We are keen to emphasise that we have been careful to consider the needs of our Fitness Unlimited customers in these plans and the changes have been designed to cause the least possible disruption to our Fitness Unlimited members, non members and other customers. The plans offer a continued service for current gym users during the construction phase.”
SIV’s Fitness Unlimited scheme is the most popular health and fitness scheme in the city with 12,000 members using Ponds Forge, Hillsborough leisure Centre, Concord Sports Centre and Don Valley Stadium. Since it opened in 2000 Fitness Unlimited has seen more than 70,000 members take up the health and fitness membership across the city.
Councillor Robert MacDonald, Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration, Culture and Planning said the improvements at Ponds Forge were key to increasing levels of physical activity and supporting the development of sporting excellence in the city.
He said: “SIV, as part of the city’s activity strategy, is aiming to open up an active lifestyle to even more people and the key to that is providing quality, state of the art facilities that people will use.
“Ponds Forge is a key player in helping to provide a vast range of health benefits through sport and we look forward to see the plans take shape.”
