Date new leisure centre opening in Surrey town with pool, cafe and rooftop football pitches

Swimming pool in new Spelthorne Eclipse Leisure Centre
-Credit: (Image: Spelthorne Borough Council)


The date for a highly anticipated reopening of a Surrey leisure centre has been announced. Eclipse Leisure Centre in Staines-upon-Thames is nearly complete and set to open on October 15.

Described as having state-of-the-art facilities, the leisure centre in Knowle Green has benefited from a £50m investment. The updated sports centre will have rooftop football pitches, eight-lane swimming pool, a gym, and an LED-marked sports hall.

Visitors can enjoy a Clip 'n Climb with 14 climbing experiences, extensive workout programmes with over 100 classes each week and immersive group cycling sessions. Costa coffee will also be on the site with large seating area and soft play. This is as well as nearly 300 car parking spaces - up from 165 at the previous centre - 12 disabled spaces and 50 cycle spaces, according to the initial application.

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The new Spelthorne Leisure Centre will also have a sauna and steam rooms, squash courts, and a six-court sports hall with cricket nets and LED line markings for basketball, badminton, volleyball, five-a-side, boccia, and netball. A 200-station fitness suite will have free weights and a warm-up area, spin and multi-purpose studios, and a “flagship rooftop design” will bring four 3G football pitches.

Plans to upgrade the leisure centre were announced in 2018, with detailed proposals approved in June 2021 after a few rounds of local consultation. The new centre will also be energy efficient, using between 60 and 70% less energy than a typical modern leisure centre.

The original Spelthorne Leisure Centre was first built as a swimming pool in the 1960s, before being extended in the late 1980s to become a leisure centre.

Places Leisure will be the new operators managing the new Spelthorne Leisure centre and the existing Sunbury Leisure Centre for the next 10 years. The former Spelthorne Leisure Centre will be shut from October 1 for two weeks while the new operator takes over.

Dan Zubiena, General Manager at Places Leisure, said: "Eclipse Leisure Centre will be state-of-the-art, offering the very best facilities for Places Leisure to deliver significantly enhanced health and fitness services to the community with more classes, a larger gym space and pool, the addition of a sauna and a steam room and much more.

“The Eclipse Leisure Centre will be a hub of activity for the Spelthorne community, offering something for everyone and we look forward to welcoming members and visitors soon. Our number one priority is to help the Spelthorne community to live active and healthy lives and we can't wait to get started.”

Places Leisure said it is in the process of contacting existing members in advance of taking over the leisure operator contract in October.