What a spectacular waste of money and lack of humility...

So, the £27m, lottery funded, leisure centre down the road to me, Clissold Leisure, is having to close for repairs for three months after being open for less than two years.
According to Hackney Council this is due to poor weather and structural repairs.

The centre was in trouble before it launched (see Building magazine archive reg rqd) .
As Ken Worpole wrote in the local magazine, N16, in April 2000:

"the District Auditor has sharply criticised Hackney Council in his annual report for allowing Clissold Leisure Centre to overspend by an astonishing £10.6m, which, given that originally the centre was only going to cost £10m (£13m by the time the contract was signed), seems to indicate serious mismanagement somewhere.
Rumour has it that the total bill is now approaching £21 million, half of which will have to be found from Hackney council tax payers, by cutting other services, and selling off more of the family silver."

Well, we never found out exactly how much they overspent by...(cost rumours range from £27m - £34m), but when it launched in February 2002, it seemed that we might soon be able to forget about the money. Building magazine said: ":the building is beautiful, and will garner architectural prizes".
The architect Stephen Hodder said

"I took someone around it the other day and they said to me, 'You go inside and it's like you're not in Hackney anymore'. Surely that's what the building's all about: escaping and relaxing."

Some relaxation. In September 2002, after launch, the Audit Commission reported that "The new Clissold Centre has opened with significant design weaknesses."
Under the headline Hall of Pain, John Runtz and friends detailed 49 faults on their excellent unofficial Clissold Leisure site. Including (and I quote randomly):

" - glass walls around pools retain fetid water, this is present in all pool areas and corrosion is visible at their base, at less than 12 months from opening
- corrosion evident on lavatory fittings, at less than 2 months from opening
- rust on door-fittings and hinges to training pool, at less than 12 months from opening doors becoming difficult to open at 18-months from opening
- rust on floor-catches to doors with corrosion 'seeping' into surrounding tiling - widespread, at less than 12 months from opening"

Ken Worpole finished his piece in N16 saying: "There is no doubt that, once finally opened, Clissold Leisure Centre will be a landmark building and a wonderful facility". By June this year, he had changed his mind. He described it in the Guardian as "A beautiful monument that doesn't deliver, and cannot easily be adapted.". His more detailed analysis was

It is seriously over-designed, with most architectural attention (and cost apparently) expended on the complex trussed roof and cantilevered stairs. Yet the building fails at some of the most basic levels. Users complain of poor and unsafe circulation and layout of facilities (a children's flume and family changing village - unopened because the interior is visible from other levels of the building - are located next to the unguarded two-metre-deep competition pool), of airless and claustrophobic changing rooms. What originally was to have been a public piazza at the entrance, where people could sit and drink coffee, with views of George Gilbert Scott's magnificent St Mary's Church, got lost in the design process somewhere, and now functions as another unofficial, oil-stained car park.

. Basically, it's been a cock up from start to finish. It seems the council is now suing the architects (who are still bragging about it on their online portfolio as it were an unquestionable triumph. Sport England (who manage the Lottery's grant) seem to be saying nothing. Surely it's time someone apologised?

Comments

[Shredders]

Great work .I am really pleased to post my comment on this blog . It helped me with ocean of knowledge so I really belive you will do much better in the future . Good job web master .
http://www.shredderwarehouse.com