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A leisure centre, sports centre, recreation center, or aquatics centre is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and provided by the local government authority, where people can engage in a variety of sports and exercise, and keep fit. [1]
Facilities typically include a swimming pool, a large sports hall, and a gym, and may include: aerobics studios, an indoor cycling studio, squash courts, a cafeteria, a licensed bar, outdoor grass and/or artificial pitches for football (soccer), hockey etc., a solarium, sauna and/or steam room. Some of its functions may overlap with that of a community centre.
Leisure centres are staffed by attendants who carry out a range of tasks to help and supervise the people using the leisure centre's facilities, and act as swimming pool lifeguards, gym instructors and coaches, offering advice, motivation, and expertise to users. Leisure centres are often operated by private companies on contract to the local authority.
Some leisure centres, particularly in Australia, are called aquatic centres, if their main facilities are pools for swimming, diving, and other aquatic sports.
Ponds Forge International Sports Centre is a leisure complex in Sheffield, England. It has an Olympic-sized swimming pool with 2,600 seating capacity, a family and children's pools, water slides amongst other facilities.
South Norwood Leisure Centre is a leisure centre located on Portland Road in South Norwood in Croydon, London. It contains a 25m sized swimming pool, teaching pool, 32 station gym and two studios. The centre is managed by Better (GLL).
The Link Centre is a leisure centre in Swindon, England. The building, owned by Swindon Borough Council and operated by Greenwich Leisure under the brand "Better", is best known for its national-sized ice rink which houses a National Ice Hockey League team, the Swindon Wildcats.
Cardiff International Sports Village is located in Cardiff Bay in the city of Cardiff, Wales. It is one of the largest regeneration projects currently in the UK and is a public-private funded project.
The Adelaide Aquatic Centre is a complex of indoor heated swimming pools operated by the Adelaide City Council and located in the northernmost extent of the Adelaide Parklands in North Adelaide, Australia. It is located in the square of parkland bordered by Jeffcott Street, Barton Terrace West, Prospect Road and Fitzroy Terrace. There is a car park to the west whose entrance is off Jeffcott Street, but the entrance to the centre itself faces north, towards Fitzroy Terrace. The centre opened on 20 December 1969.
Sungod Recreation Centre is a recreation centre located in Delta, British Columbia. The facility contains four pools, a swirl pool, a sauna, a steam room, a weight room, an aerobic studio, and an ice rink. It also hosts swimming lessons including kids, teens, and lifeguard courses.
The King Alfred Leisure Centre is a leisure centre on Hove seafront in the city of Brighton and Hove in England. The complex, which includes a ballroom, sports halls and swimming pools, is owned by Brighton and Hove City Council and operated by Freedom Leisure. The centre is colloquially known by some locals as the "Devil Tower".
Canberra International Sports and Aquatic Centre (CISAC) is a privately owned sport centre located in Bruce, a suburb of Canberra, Australia. CISAC is home to the CISAC swim academy and the Ginninderra Marlins swimming club.
Sports and Leisure Management Limited (SLM) is a leisure management company that was formed in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England in 1987. It trades under the name Everyone Active, which is its consumer brand. At present, the company manages over 200 leisure centres on the behalf of over 50 local authorities and trusts all over England. It provides sports and leisure services to approximately 2.7million members and caters for 3.2million visitors each month.
Most leisure centres in Cardiff, capital of Wales, are owned by Cardiff Council. Since 2016, the running of eight formerly Council-run leisure centres has been outsourced to Greenwich Leisure Limited, operating under their 'Better' branding. Channel View Leisure Centre continues to be managed by Cardiff Council, whilst the Cardiff International Pool in Cardiff Bay is run separately by another private company.
Camberwell Public Baths opened in 1892 and has been in continuous operation as publicly funded community baths and more recently as a public leisure centre.
Woking Park is a large park and leisure complex in Woking, Surrey, operated and maintained by Woking Borough Council. The park is in the Hoe Valley and will be affected by the Hoe Valley Scheme.
The Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre is a public swimming pool complex located on the corner of High Street and Edgar Street, Glen Iris, Melbourne, Australia. Built in the 1960s by Australian architects Kevin Borland and Daryl Jackson, the Swimming Centre is considered to be a fine example of Brutalist architecture. Originally built in 1927 as a municipal swimming baths, the facilities were renovated in 1967 by Borland and Jackson to accommodate for higher swimming participation numbers. It is named in honour of Prime Minister Harold Holt, the local member of parliament until his apparent drowning death while the facility was under construction.
Sport Northern Ireland, officially known as the Sports Council for Northern Ireland, is the regional government sports council for Northern Ireland. Its head office is based, near Barnett Demesne, at the "House of Sport" on Upper Malone Road in Belfast. It receives some funding from the taxpayer, with funding also coming from the National Lottery.
Public swimming pools in Hong Kong are managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD). There are 44 public swimming pools in Hong Kong; 9 in Hong Kong Island, 13 in Kowloon, and 22 in the New Territories. LCSD manages public swimming pools according to Law of Hong Kong Chapter 132 sections 42 to 45.
The Plymouth Life Centre is a leisure centre in Central Park, Plymouth, Devon, England, run by Plymouth Active Leisure in partnership with Plymouth City Council. Its facilities include a family leisure pool, a climbing wall, an eight-lane indoor bowls centre, fitness suite, a 10 lane 50-metre Olympic standard swimming pool, an Olympic standard diving pool, along with dryside training facilities, showers and a multipurpose area for dance and martial arts. It is currently the only 12 court multipurpose sports hall in Devon. The climbing wall facility is managed by High Sports. The aquatic facilities are the largest facility in southern England and were used by several teams training for the 2012 Olympics. The Life Centre replaces the Mayflower Centre and Central Park Leisure Pools. It opened in March 2012 at a cost of £46.5m.
The Franklin Pool and Leisure Centre is a multi purpose leisure centre in Pukekohe, New Zealand, formally known as the Franklin Rec centre to locals. The centre now has facilities that include a fully equipped gym with strength and cardio equipment, a dedicated cardio space, functional training area, a group exercise and cycle studio with over 30 classes to enjoy. An indoor 25m pool with children’s splash area, dedicated learn to swim pool and sauna facilities were added in
Sandwell Aquatics Centre is an indoor facility located in Londonderry, Smethwick, West Midlands, England. It contains an Olympic-size swimming pool, a 10-metre diving board with 25-metre pool, a community swimming pool and permanent seating for 1,000 spectators with an additional 4,000 seats during the Games. Construction began in January 2020 and opened on 12 April 2022 to mark 100 days until the start of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.