Leak halts opening of nenagh leisure centre

The re-opening of Nenagh's Leisure Centre has again been postponed following the discovery of a leak in the pipework  in the building.

While Tipperary County Council has announced that the town's long-awaited adjoining Town Park will open at the Dublin Road site this Thursday, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government Alan Kelly revealed his own disquiet to The Guardian over the fact that the Leisure Centre remains closed.

'I'm disappointed and frustrated because the Leisure Centre is something I use myself,' said the Minister, speaking  from Milan where he is attending his first EU Council of Ministers meeting since his elevation to Cabinet.

The minister, whose announcement of major State funding enabled the upgrade of the Leisure Centre and the provision of the new Town Park, said he would like to see the centre re-opened as soon as possible.

'I understand that there were unforeseen difficulties encountered, but I'm very disappointed it has taken this length time,' said Minister Kelly.

The gym in the Leisure Centre has been closed since August of last year and the swimming pool closed the week before last Christmas.

Initially, the council estimated that the refurbishment works would be completed by last April. However, that deadline was not reached and the re-opening date has been pushed back on a number of occasions since then. 

In a statement issued to this newspaper on Friday last, the council said the re-opening of the refurbished centre was 'imminent'. However, it made no  commitment on an  exact date for the re-opening.

See full report in this week's paper.