Plas Madoc Comes Back To Life After A Year Of Uncertainty

A much loved community leisure centre that closed earlier this year is set to reopen on the 6th December, following the work of local volunteers.

Plas Madoc Leisure Centre which closed in April this year due to Council budgetary cuts, is set to reopen on December 6th after months of hard work from a team of local volunteers.

The centre which has been handed over by Wrexham Council to the recently established Splash Magic Trust, will reopen under the new name ‘Splash Magic’.

Over the past few weeks work has been underway on bringing the leisure centre back to life, with a team of volunteers working on redecorating and cleaning up the interior of the centre.

Member of Splash Magic Community Trust, Jason Davies told Wrexham.com : “I don’t think any of us were ready for the scale of the whole thing. It has been a hectic six months and a steep learning curve. We haven’t got a huge amount of money, we hope the grant of £50,000 will get it open for the first month then we are on our own two feet.

“The support we have have had from the community has been fantastic, everyone is behind us. We refer to the building as a community centre now and we are hoping to bring more of the community in.

“We want to get schools in for pantomimes, host five a side football – we will help anyone.

“The building was in a reasonable condition, but it needed a good tidy. The pool itself was still clean as the filtration has been running for the past six months. The building needed some painting and decorating, the volunteers from Coleg Cambria have been great.”

The centre was closed back in April as part of Wrexham Council’s ongoing budgetary cuts to make savings of £45million. Plas Madoc was first mooted for closure just over a year ago, with the building closing its doors seemingly for good six months ago.

However in a u-turn last month, Wrexham’s Executive Board meeting voted in favour of handing over a 20 year lease to Plas Madoc Leisure Centre over to the recently formed Splash Magic Trust, along with a £50,000 grant to help kick start the reopening of the leisure centre.

Mr Davies said: “We don’t hold it against the Council, we are working together now and need to for long term success. More and more we are seeing the Council get behind us. Moving forward a link with the Council has been built, need to do this hand in hand and work together.

“We are under no illusions, there will be hiccups over the next 20 years, we will need help some times. Things are moving forward though and we are looking forward to reopening.”

The Splash Magic Trust has also started taking bookings for the sports hall and other facilities and has recently released details of the cost of the various classes and memberships that will be available when the centre reopens to the public.

On Saturday December 6th there will be a grand reopening of the centre with a series of activities and taster sessions taking place throughout the day, including: dance troops, swimming, crafts and face painting.

Mr Davies warned of complacency saying: “Everyone is really excited from the feedback we are getting. We hope people come and use the centre, as long as people use it – we will keep it open. If usage isn’t there then the centre will close, which will be tragic. We won’t get a second chance

“The key message is to come down, have fun with us and enjoy the centre.”

Further information on membership fees and class prices for Splash Magic and how to get involved in volunteering at the centre, can be found on the Splash Magic website here.