A VIP opening is planned for the newly refurbished Hartsdown Leisure Centre in Margate, with Olympian, Commonwealth and World Champion swimmer Mark Foster, opening the Centre on Friday 9 April at midday.

The £1.65m overhaul of the centre, which is managed by Thanet Leisureforce, was fully funded by Alliance Leisure with work carried out by design and build contractor Createability.

The redevelopment progressed on schedule and saw the conversion of the eight-court sports hall into a four-court sports hall, two exercise studios, a soft play area and a large gym equipped with Life Fitness CV stations, the ride orientated Hoist Roc-It resistance circuit, interactive Expresso bikes and Octane cross trainers from Physique.

The centre was built in the early 1970's and due to lack of investment became outdated, doing little to promote and encourage usage by the local community. The fitness facilities were housed in a separate wooden hut and the sports hall was suffering declining usage due to the large influx of sports hall provision by local schools.

Steve Davis, Managing Director of Thanet Leisureforce comments: "In order to appeal to the local community and compete with local private facilities it was imperative that Hartsdown Leisure Centre was brought into the 21st Century.

Alliance Leisure has been instrumental in both securing funding and assisting in producing the business case that persuaded the Council to support the project. With the introduction of the soft play area and the transformation of the gym facilities the centre is now more family friendly and will encourage the local community to make good use of the new programmes and amenities on offer."

Steve Davis continues: "Createability has been a very flexible contractor and has assisted us in making minor changes and tackled maintenance issues with very little fuss. We are extremely pleased with the final finish that has been achieved."

Ian Cotgrave, Managing Director of Createability said: "This was a major redevelopment of an ageing building and has resulted in excellent facilities with a high standard of finish across the refurbished areas. The work went according to plan, with only minor disruption and, as is always our aim, we finished on time and on budget. Thanet Leisureforce now has a facility that promotes and supports local participation, which should help to address issues of lack of physical exercise within the local community."

Stephen Parker, Business Development Manager for Alliance Leisure adds: "Current statistics for local areas show poor health and low participation in sport and physical activity. The upgrade of these facilities will encourage the local community and in particular families and we hope will help to improve the health and wellbeing of the whole community."