Hillsborough Leisure Centre: Disappointment as swimming pool sessions sell out on last day before closure

The pools at Hillsborough Leisure Centre are set to close from tomorrow, Monday, February 20 for essential maintenance works, which it is estimated will take five months to complete. The work includes the refurbishment and replacement of equipment that operator Sheffield City Trust has said is required ‘to continue to operate effectively’.

The lengthy closure meant there was unsurprisingly huge demand during the last weekend, especially given it fell at the end of half-term. Bosses at the leisure centre announced this morning that all leisure swim sessions for today, Sunday, February 19, were fully booked before the pools even opened. Swim sessions for the previous day had also sold out.

The closure of the pools leaves thousands of swimmers facing a trip to other sites including Ponds Forge or Stocksbridge. The leisure centre will remain open, with the sports hall, gym and fitness studios unaffected, but members at Hillsborough have been offered the chance to freeze their payments throughout the pool closure.

Sheffield City Trust has said it plans to reopen the pools at Hillsborough this summer and would provide customers with a confirmed reopening date once this is available. The trust said that extra lanes had been added during lane swimming sessions at its other venues to accommodate the expected increase in demand.

The leisure pool at Ponds Forge previously closed for six months for maintenance between July 2021 and January 2022, with the flumes there removed during the work. There is no suggestion any of the flumes at Hillsborough will go.

Sheffield City Trust runs 13 venues including Sheffield Arena, the City Hall, Ponds Forge and the English Institute of Sport, as well as five golf clubs. It also provides services in the community. A new operator is set to take over from next year.

The pool at Springs Leisure Centre, near Manor Top, is also due to close for a month from March 20, with a scheduled reopening date of Monday, April 17. It is also operated by the trust which said essential maintenance work was needed ‘regarding the management of asbestos’.