Leader of Cumberland Council, Cllr Mark Fryer, said:
“Following the government’s recent change in guidance on the use of RAAC in the construction of school buildings, we have proactively reviewed our public buildings. RAAC is present in the auditorium of the Events Centre at The Sands, Carlisle.
“Although the new main Sands Centre building is unaffected, which includes the pools, gym, sports halls, café, bars and restaurant, the council has taken the decision to close the stand-alone events centre so that further assessments can be made of the older part of the building.
“The 1980s part of the building did not form part of the recent redevelopment work, operates separately from the redeveloped site and is self-contained.
“The events centre building has been inspected on a regular basis in accordance with government guidelines and was compliant until the recent change in government guidance, in late August.
“Improvement works for the older part of The Sands Centre building were part of a phase two of the redevelopment and work was already underway to progress these works. This work will now be accelerated.
“The decision to temporarily close the events space is a precautionary step and does not impact on the day to day running of the main leisure centre.
“Events planned for the auditorium will unfortunately be cancelled until further notice. GLL, the council’s events and leisure provider, will contact ticket holders.
“This is not a decision that Cumberland Council has taken lightly, and we apologise to anyone who has been impacted.
“Further updates will be provided in due course.”