New sports village in Derby nears completion

Facilities inside the new Moorways Sports Village in Derby are taking shape, as work on the £42m building enters the final stage of construction.

The exterior of the building is inspired by Derby’s links with engineering and has been completed.

A milestone will be reached this week when work gets under way to fill the pools with a total of 3.5 million litres of water. This is expected to take around a week to complete.

Fitness studios, including one with views across to Moorways Sports Stadium, are also nearing completion along with the large gym area, which will be fitted out with 120 stations.

Cllr Ross McCristal, Derby City Council’s Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture, Tourism and Wellbeing, said: ‘The new Moorways Sports Village looks impressive from the outside, and inside you can really see it starting to take shape. The quality and breadth of facilities it will have to offer is fantastic for our city.

‘When it opens it will provide the most up-to-date facilities for our communities, clubs and athletes to enjoy, as well as attracting visitors from across the region. It has been very exciting to watch this wonderful centre develop. It will be great to see it open in Spring 2022 which is a testament to our great team working with our key partners.’

Derbyshire company Bowmer + Kirkland are constructing the centre on behalf of Derby City Council.

Moorways Sports Village is due to open in Spring 2022 as planned, and will be managed by a leisure operating partner on behalf of Derby City Council. Plans are on track to announce the successful tenderer in the New Year.

Jonathan Gisbourne, Bowmer + Kirkland Project Manager, said: ‘It’s been an honour to work on this exciting project which will bring fantastic leisure facilities to Derby and the surrounding area. We are proud of our team who have worked hard through the last challenging 18 months and look forward to handing the project over to our client, Derby City Council, early in the New Year.’

In related news, a planning application has been submitted for a velodrome in the new International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay, with computer-generated images released to show the plans.

Photo supplied by Derby City Council