Action Station

The long-awaited £13.5m Station Leisure & Learning Centre has opened in Mablethorpe. WellNation charts the facility’s journey to completion

Mablethorpe’s Station Leisure and Learning Centre officially opened in July, signalling a new health and well-being facility for the seaside town’s residents. The journey to fruition had many junctions and, at times, the community just had the hope of what could be.

Starting out

Mablethorpe’s Station Sports & Leisure, which first opened in 1982 – then called Park Centre, before being renamed in 1997 – was in need of a major redevelopment, or even replacement. In addition, the town was in need of a 25m swimming pool. Although initial plans for a new facility were bounced around, it wasn’t until 2019 that the project took on a new direction with the launch of the Towns Fund Prospectus. The Connected Coast Board was then established, in January 2020, to oversee the area’s funding.

With Connected Coast’s support, plans to regenerate the coastal resort’s leisure started to take a new, more defined turn. When East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) – which owned the venue – successfully sought £48.4m government funding for transformational projects, of which £23.9m was to support projects in Mablethorpe, hope was renewed. Mablethorpe’s longed-for swimming pool started to become a realistic prospect and plans for a new Station Leisure & Learning Centre were officially tabled as part of the Mablethorpe Town Investment plan in October 2020.

Moving ahead

By September 2022, plans for the new facility were approved by East Lindsey District Council’s planning committee, and with £7.5m investment from the Government’s Towns Fund match-funded for the centre, the new leisure train could finally leave its former station. The ground was broken on the construction project On March 9, 2023. The former station sports centre was demolished and the signal was raised to start a journey of coastal leisure regeneration. Mablethorpe’s first public swimming pool was on its way. The project was led bu ELDC as part of the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership with Boston Borough Council and South Holland District Council.

Arriving at the station

Located on the high street with its own car park, the £13.5m Station Leisure & Learning Centre officially opened on 18 July 2024. The multi-functional venue was designed by lead architects, Pozzoni and the project was managed by Alliance Leisure, which delivered the development in partnership with a range of partners, including swimming pool engineers FT Leisure, mechanical and electrical specialists Hensall and ground works company Daniel Charles Constriction. The team was procured through the UK Leisure Framework owned and managed by Denbighshire Leisure Ltd, with ISG as the principal building contractor.

“This facility is a beacon of what can be achieved through collaboration,” says councillor Richard Fry, ELDC’s Political lead for Station Leisure and Learning Centre.

“The benefits the Station Leisure & Learning Centre will bring to local people will be far-reaching and long-lasting. For the first time, people in Mablethorpe of all ages can access a swimming pool and state-of-the-art fitness facilities without the need to travel, allowing more people to improve their mental well-being and fitness and learn to swim.”

The benefits the Station Leisure & Learning Centre will bring to local people will be far-reaching and long-lasting

Facilities

In addition to a four-lane, 25 metre pool and changing village, the 3,000sq m scheme includes a large gym including functional areas and EGYM, multi-purpose studio and group cycling studio as well as a MagnaTag indoor adventure area and soft play for younger children.

The centre is also served by a large café, social workspace and The Signal Box; a community space bringing learning to the area. The development offers a new outdoor playground for the community, while a 80kW solar PV array has been installed on the roof with a view to allowing the centre to feed excess electricity back into the grid.

“The launch of Station Leisure & Learning Centre marks a turning point for Mablethorpe,” says Sean Nolan, Business Development Manager, Alliance Leisure. “This impressive facility will transform this small town, enhancing residents’ health, well-being, and education while also acting as a catalyst for wider regeneration.”

Impressive impressions

The venue isn’t “just” a leisure centre, but a leisure and learning centre. The Signal Box, a community learning space, provides a much sought-after space for community groups. The introduction of designated homework hubs, instead of vending machines, equally demonstrates the project team’s understanding of the importance of quiet space to fuel learning.

Operated by Magna Vitae Trust for Leisure and Culture, Station Leisure and Learning Centre has been developed to be “a people and place- changer”. In just three months, it has achieved a recognised benchmark year of operation, compared to previous performance data of the former venue and the original business case for the new venue.

Behind the fasciae and footings of this impressive new facility, at its core is community – you can feel its importance as you walk around the high-quality facility. Magna Vitae has also added nice touches which mean that memories of yesteryear and the site’s heritage shine bright.

Archive photos of a landmark venue and the former railway station – from which the site gets its name from – adorn the walls. As a further nod to its heritage, the large café has been named Whistlestop, while the group exercise spaces are called Engine Room 1 and Engine Room 2. There is a certain harmony of memories of a place where family and friends would meet, the hustle and bustle of a community coming together, meeting new moments, together paving the way for a new chapter of a community story.

Community project

It is obvious that Magna Vitae went to great lengths to ensure that the development of the facility was a community journey – and that residents were on board before the first spade even went into the ground. A steering group of members and non- members proved critical in creating a blueprint of best practices. The result is a place crafted from the foundations of the town’s former station, which used to be a “community connector”.

“We kept asking ourselves whether everything we did had community at the heart,” says Naomi Wilkinson-Baker, Director of Operations, Magna Vitae.

“The steering group was pivotal in framing this. They gave us the uplift and motivation, reminded us of our achievements, and explained why we do what we do. This was not a case of ‘build it and they will come’. It was a challenge to think about who our users are, our non-users are, what the town’s challenges are, and how we can overcome them.”

It was a challenge to think about who our users are, our non-users are, what the town’s challenges are, and how we can overcome them

Serving a need

Mablethorpe is among England’s top 10% of deprived areas, with the East Coast experiencing notable health and economic disadvantages. In its programming, Magna Vitae has been mindful of this, adding value and, through consultation with partners, gauging a deep understanding of community perception and barriers to participation.

The introduction of EGYM, used by 45% of the membership base, helps residents track their overall health and fitness. Over 1500 residents are actively engaged in monthly group exercise sessions, with Aquacise in the new pool proving to be the most popular.

The steering group informed the timetable, a carefully crafted programme with age labels removed for designated swim times, an inclusive approach, and a focus on creating a relaxed environment where varied needs and behaviours can be supported.

Staffed by a core team of 30 – which is seven times larger than the former venue’s four-strong team – Magna Vitae’s emphasis on community has allowed the venue to welcome a fitness membership of more than 1300 in just three months. The figure has already hugely surpassed the former venue’s membership base of 300 and business performance by some margin.

.”I’m excited about what’s to come and how we smash those barriers and get people exercising who wouldn’t normally have done,” says Wilkinson-Baker. “Simply getting people into the venue – even if it’s just to look around – is huge because it might well spark something in them to come and have a swim or exercise.”