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AND NOW THE NEW THEATRE COMPLEX - ARTS & CULTURAL CENTRE  due for completion DEC 2020

BACKGROUND AND COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

Feb 28. 2018.St Albans City and District Council has submitted a planning application for a new £18.8m leisure and cultural development to serve Harpenden and the surrounding area.

The Council wants to transform Harpenden Swimming Pool into a leisure centre for various ports, and the Sports Centre into a modern arts and cultural centre.

The plans for the new Harpenden Leisure Centre

involve extending the swimming pool building. This will provide space for a larger learner pool, with a moveable floor and located alongside a refurbished main pool. There

will also be a new sports hall, wet and dry changing facilities and a significantly larger gym with more than 160 stations. Provision is also being made for three dance studios, a crèche, as well as a sauna and a steam room with a relaxation area for users

of these two facilities. In addition, visitors will have access to a café and a poolside

viewing gallery with seating for spectators.

The plans for the new Arts and Culture facility

provide for a larger theatre than currently exists at Harpenden Public Halls, with 511 seats. There will be a multi-purpose room, a cultural and heritage exhibition space, as well as bars on two floors and a café overlooking Rothamsted Park.

A first-floor ramp and bridge will form an entrance to the new arts and leisure centre

from the park.

The plans also provide for a significant increase in car and cycling parking facilities.

The plans have been influenced by a consultation with stakeholders, including local

residents, sports clubs, arts and cultural societies, gym users and councillors. This included briefing sessions, a charette-style design workshop, hosted by independent

facilitators, and a pre-planning application exhibition. The public was also given the opportunity to put forward their views on the proposed development via an online

questionnaire.

Ideas suggested by stakeholders that have been incorporated into the plans

include:

+ a larger learner pool which is three times the size of the current one;

+ a balcony in the arts and culturalcentre that will bring proposed seating levels up to 511;

+ a ramp entrance to the arts and cultural centre;       

+ a number of multi-purpose rooms to accommodate rehearsals, meetings and events;

+ a relaxation area for users of the new sauna and the steam room.

The cost of development is expected to be met from increased revenue made possible by

having a modern facility with more gym, theatre and swimming pool space.

Cllr Annie Brewster, Portfolio Holder for Sports, Leisure and Heritage at St Albans City

and District Council, said: “These proposed new leisure, arts and cultural facilities

will serve Harpenden, Redbourn, Wheathampstead and the surrounding area for generations to come. So, great care has been taken in developing the current plans for these amazingmodern facilities. An extensive pre-application consultation

has produced fantastic ideas that have helped influence and improve on the initial

plans. Now the public will have another opportunity to comment on the proposed development through the planning process.”

Cllr Julian Daly, Portfolio Holder for Commercial and Development at St Albans City and District Council, said: “The redevelopment of leisure, arts and cultural facilities in Harpenden is part of an ongoing strategy to upgrade facilities across the District. In

the last five years, the Council has opened Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre, re-built Batchwood Sports Centre following a fire, and built the new Cotlandswick Sports

Centre. It is also looking at upgrading the Alban Arena and

improving athletics facilities located in St Albans.”

If the development is given planning approval, steps will betaken to minimise disruption to local residents and the use of the Amenbury Lane car park. The Council’s website will carry updates on the project, including on when works may be noisy or will take place at the car park. Contractors will be provided with their own parking area so the Amenbury Lane car park can operate with as little disruption as possible.

Oct 7. 2019 Significant progress on the new Sports/Leisure centre. Due to open Dec 2020.

How the new Theatre will look

Feb 28. Latest news confirmed by Cllr Mary Maynard,

The first concerns the roof of the existing Sports Centre which was built using a material known as RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete). This roof was due to be retained as part of the new Cultural Centre as it met structural standards at that time.

In September 2019, the Council was informed by Willmott Dixon Construction (WDC), the main works contractor, that problems with this type of material had come to light in a report issued by SCOSS (The Standing Committee on Structural Safety).

The result of this is that Furness, WDC’s Structural Engineers, has advised that we will have to replace the entire lower roof. This is to ensure the roof is strong enough to support the increased level of mechanical plant required for the upgraded theatre and cultural facilities, given the new guidance included in the SCOSS report.

Inevitably this has a number of consequences.

This extra work will impact the construction timetable so that the new Cultural Centre will now likely open on the 1st May next year, a few weeks later than originally envisaged.

The planned cultural programme, however, will not be affected in any way as it will continue at Harpenden Public Halls until the new facility is opened.

Full details on the need for the replacement lower roof and the various implications for the project will be provided in a report that is being prepared for Cabinet on 19th March.

The second issue that has arisen concerns the provision of temporary facilities for users of the existing Sports Centre during the Cultural Centre’s construction.

It was planned to site a temporary gym building beside the centre, but the planning process to deliver this has turned out to be lengthier and more complex than anticipated.

Although planning permission has now been obtained, there are conditions around drainage that mean it will not be possible to install a temporary gym building until later than scheduled.

The roof remedial works cannot begin until after the current gym and some of the ground floor is vacated.

July. Lack of funds could stop the building of the new Sports and Cultural centres in Harpenden.

The total construction costs for the project will now rise from the £18.4 million estimated early this year, but the exact figure has yet to be finalised.

SADC has already borrowed £13.5 million for the project with additional finance from other sources including the redevelopment of Harpenden Public Halls.

The Cabinet has now recommended more money should be borrowed to ensure the new centres can be completed.

The extra costs were incurred following issues with the roof and delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Cllr Robert Donald, portfolio holder for commercial, development and wellbeing, said: “I inherited this redevelopment project when building construction was already well advanced on site. We really have no choice but to ask full council to allow for the extra borrowing to see this vital project through to the end.

“The alternative of stopping work on building the cultural centre would leave a half-finished building, expose the council to more not less contractual costs and result in Harpenden residents not being able to use a great new facility.

“New Government guidance was issued after the contract was signed which meant the roof had to be substantially rebuilt to meet higher structural standards. We have a public duty to meet these new requirements and it is the sort of difficulty that all large refurbishment projects involving existing buildings like these can run into.”

“What has, of course, also been completely unexpected is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in a need for social distancing on the construction sites.

As part of the project, the existing swimming pool building is being turned into the new leisure centre.

It will include an improved gym, new café, sports hall, sauna, steam room, learner pool and refurbished main pool.

The nearby sports centre is being converted into a cultural centre, replacing the ageing Public Halls in Southdown Road.

It will include a 511-seat theatre, two function rooms, an exhibition space, bars on two floors and a café overlooking the park.

The sports/leisure centre is due to open later this year and the cultural centre (to be called the Eric Morecambe Centre) is set to open in mid-2021. A residential and commercial development will be built on the present Public Halls site when the new cultural centre is open.

During building work, it was discovered that the sport centre’s roof was not strong enough for extra plant and more beams would have to be installed.

Social distancing at the construction site is resulting in around one week’s delay for each month of the contract.

Conservative group leader Cllr Mary Maynard said: “Yet again this administration demonstrates its inability to manage straightforward construction projects. The council has nine large construction projects. All are running behind schedule and only one is on budget. This is not unforeseen problems on one project, it is a pattern of incompetence.’

In April 2019, Conservatives left an excellent project team. Apparently, now that the costs are getting away from them, it is the staff’s ‘fault’ and they need to re-negotiate with suppliers.