Community Swimming Pool Takes Shape

Major work to construct a modern 25 metre, 6-lane community pool at Palmer Park is coming along at pace, with the steel frame of the new pool set to start going up from the end of November.

Construction of the new pool is the next key milestone in our £40M investment in modern leisure facilities for the town, including delivering brand new pools, a modern leisure centre and improvements to existing leisure facilities, by spring 2023.

The new community pool and facilities will open to the public in late 2022. At Palmer Park, in addition to the refurbishment of the existing stadium building, there will be:

• A new 25 metre, 6-lane community pool
• A 100-station gym
• An activity zone for children with party rooms
• And a new café and information hub.

‘Vibro Piling’ is currently taking place on-site, to lay the foundations of the new facilities. Vibro Stone Columns (VSCs) offers a sustainable alternative to deep foundations. This technique contains no cement, concrete or steel, considerably reducing the carbon footprint compared to other traditional forms of foundation making.

Following the construction of the pool frame, the next major event will be the installation of the new pool roof and the replacement of the existing stadium roof. This work will take place from the end of April 2022.

The roof replacement work will necessitate the unavoidable closure of the gym and indoor sports facilities for around 6 months, until autumn 2022.

The outside stadium, including the track, athletics and velodrome will continue to be in use. Temporary toilet facilities will be provided for the duration of the closure for use by stadium users and members of the public.

All gym users will be able to access alternative fitness facilities at other GLL run Reading leisure centres during this period.