The Sands Centre in Carlisle will be reopening to leisure customers as normal tomorrow (Tuesday, 4 February).
The centre has been closed since Friday 24 January after Storm Éowyn damaged the temporary canopy installed as part of the RAAC replacement on the Sands’ auditorium roof.
GLL worked closely with Cumberland Council and put temporary measures in place to minimise disruption to leisure centre customers.
Cubby Construction, working on behalf of Cumberland Council, has been safely removing the damaged scaffolding and canopy steel work.
With the support of crane operators working at height of 14 metres above ground level, they have safely removed an estimated 26 tonnes of steel.
At the weekend, four cranes were working together on the site - in tandem - to remove the last remaining sections of steel work. This operation is rarely seen and took days of planning to ensure everyone involved was safe and the work to remove the steel work was a success.
Cumberland Council spokesperson said:
“We would like to extend our thanks to all those involved in the steel removal. It was a highly complex operation and was undertaken with the safety of the public as its top priority.
“Now that the repair work has been completed, we will assess the impact the storm has had on the project. We will endeavour to get the work on the RAAC removal back on track as quickly as possible. It’s too early to say what impact it has had but we will provide updates as soon as we can.
“In the meantime, we appreciate the patience of Sands’ leisure and our car park customers during the temporary closures.”
The Sands Centre car park will also reopen tomorrow (Tuesday 4 February). The Swifts car park and footpath adjacent to the Swifts car park remains closed.
Image courtesy of Stuart Walker.
