Telephone payments issues

You may experience issues when you try to make a payment to us on our automated payment phone line. Apologies for the inconvenience while our payment provider resolves the issue.

Topping out celebrates major milestone for Hornchurch Sports Centre

Published: Wednesday, 4 March 2020

Havering Council’s newest sports centre took a step closer to completion this week after a topping out ceremony marked a major milestone in construction.

The Leader of Havering Council, cabinet members, Council staff, Everyone Active, and Metnor Construction visited the site on Monday 3 March as the ‘topping out’ ceremony marked the highest point of the building work being completed. 

With the steel frame and roof now firmly installed, the next steps will be to complete the external cladding, as well as the tiling, before the centre opens its doors later this year.

The Council is delivering the new facilities, working in partnership with Everyone Active, who manage the Council’s leisure centres.

While construction is taking place on the new complex in Hornchurch, the current centre is open as usual to residents and visitors, right up until the grand opening of the new centre this autumn.

Once open, residents will be able to enjoy a 25m eight-lane swimming pool, a 20m wide learning and diving pool with movable floor to change the depth, a 100 plus station health and fitness suite, three exercise studios and top-class changing facilities.

The new centre is part of a huge investment in leisure and sport facilities by the Council, which includes Sapphire Ice & Leisure in Romford.

Since opening in February 2018, Sapphire Ice & Leisure has had over one million visitors, and was crowned Civic Building of the Year in the SPACES Awards for its innovative use of space and high building quality.

The Council has also pumped money into extending Central Park Leisure Centre in Harold Hill, and has settled on a site for its new leisure centre in the south of the borough. The next step is for plans to be submitted, with a view to open the new Rainham Sports Centre in late 2021.

Councillor Damian White, Leader of Havering Council, said: “We are incredibly excited to see the design for the new Hornchurch Sports Centre coming to life before us. Once completed, the centre will offer a whole range of activities and services that the community can get involved in to keep fit and healthy.

"We are committed to investing and improving our leisure and sport facilities across the whole borough. With the continuing success of Sapphire Ice and Leisure, this new centre in Hornchurch, and through settling on a new site for a sports centre in the south of the borough, we’re providing the facilities residents need to live healthy and happy lives.”

Tom Fletcher, Area Contract Manager at Everyone Active, commented: “It’s fantastic to see the next stages of our new Hornchurch Sports Centre coming together. We’re confident that this investment will provide high-quality sports and recreational services for the whole community.

“We are continuing to work hard with Havering Council and our partner, Metnor Construction, to ensure that every aspect of the build is completed to the highest quality.”