Swindon Borough Council have this evening announced they will submit an £8m bid to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to help bring forward plans to reopen the Oasis Leisure Centre.
Plans to build a brand-new leisure facility on the site of the Oasis stalled when the centre’s iconic dome and swimming pool was given Grade II listed status by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England.
According to landlords SevenCapital, there is a huge viability gap in the cost of refurbishing the building and should the council be successful in the obtaining the grant it will be used to try to offset some of the large cost increase associated with the listing.
Councillor David Renard, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: “We have always maintained that reopening the Oasis is a priority for the Council and we have been in talks with SevenCapital to discuss ways this can be made possible.
“The listing of the dome and swimming pool has made that process extremely difficult as large parts of the original fabric need to be retained.
“Naturally, that has added considerable cost to the whole project and has made it much more complicated to add in the energy-saving measures which will make the facility more environmentally friendly.
“There are no guarantees we will be successful in our funding bid to the Government and we have to carry out a huge amount of due diligence with SevenCapital on their proposals before we can begin to take things forward. But we have to do what we can to give us a fighting chance of getting this important landmark back open for local people to enjoy.”
