The opening of Blairgowrie ’s new £24 million recreation centre has been pushed back a further eight months due to the pandemic.
Work on the £24 million leisure centre is said to be “progressing” but the opening has been delayed from March 2023 to a provisional date of November 2023.
The centre - which will also form the PE department for Blairgowrie High School - was originally due to open in 2020.
Perth and Kinross Council’s head of business and resources Greg Boland provided the latest update on the project to councillors at a meeting this week.
At Monday’s (April 19) property sub-committee meeting, Mr Boland said: “We have received the stage one for the recreational centre so the design team is just working through that and looking to sign that off before the end of the month.
“Originally we had anticipated the new centre would become operational in March 2023 but unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic,it’s looking likely to be later in 2023.”
He said the new timescale looked like provisionally having it ready for opening in November 2023.
After the meeting the Perthshire Advertiser was told relevant groups in Blairgowrie had been aware completion was anticipated for autumn/winter 2023 but this did not seem to have been pinned down to November until now.
Conservative Blairgowrie and Glens councillor Bob Brawn said: “When the funding for the recreation [centre] was unanimously agreed by council, it kicked off the design stage which includes consultation with the high school and various groups who will use the facility.
“The ongoing pandemic has slowed this process down and what would have been physical meetings have had to take place virtually online.
“This new centre has been a long time coming and the patience of the local community and user groups is very much appreciated.
“However, the long wait will have been worth it as Blairgowrie will now have a state-of-the-art, eco-friendly facility which will be energy efficient thereby helping to mitigate climate change.”
SNP Blairgowrie councillor Tom McEwan told the Perthshire Advertiser delays caused by COVID were expected but hit out at the Conservative administration at PKC for previous setbacks.
Cllr McEwan said: “The current Conservative administration has been responsible for several crimes against the new Blairgowrie Rec Centre since they came to power in 2017.
“Removing funding and delaying the capital budget started a downward spiral with growing construction inflation, poor proposals for the swimming pool and a public in Blairgowrie and surrounding areas not happy at these changes.
“After public pressure through the SNP petition, that resulted in a U-turn of immense proposals in both design and costs. This has all added years of time to this build and demonstrates the naivety at which this administration has conducted its business.
“The update at property sub this week was expected, but a full year of COVID restriction has only added a few months to the build time, the Tories have done more to delay this project than a year of lockdown could.”
Conservative Blairgowrie and Glens councillor Caroline Shiers insisted the recreation centre was a priority. She said: “There has not been an official programme for completion until we agreed at council last September to increase the budget from £15.1 million to £24 million, which allows a replacement Blairgowrie Recreation Centre Passivhaus project.”
She added: “The shutdown of the construction industry due to COVID-19 has presented a challenge but we are now in a position to move forward and that is very welcome news.”
