Newcastle City Council is looking for a new contractor for a leisure center that was due to be built by Willmott Dixon.
In February, Willmott Dixon announced it had been appointed to develop the £26m ‘state-of-the-art’ Outer West Leisure Center in West Denton.
Willmott Dixon has been carrying out pre-construction and fit-out work for the past few months, but the council revealed last week that it was looking for a new partner as inflation has caused costs to rise by £6m for the construction
The council has said it will “seek to reduce these costs with a new building partner while working to maintain the quality of the facilities”.
This will delay the opening of the leisure center by six months, but the council said it “remains absolutely committed” to the project.
Paula Maines, Newcastle’s Cabinet Member for a Resilient City, said: “Like many infrastructure projects, our Outer West Leisure Center and Pool have been affected by external factors, including inflation “.
He added: “The change is necessary to reduce costs and fit them more into our budget. This delay inevitably means the center will not be open in December 2024 as planned.”
The buildings at the site have been internally dismantled and are ready for demolition, Maines said.
“We will begin the process to appoint a new demolition contractor to demolish the buildings without delay so that the new construction partner can move into a site that is ready for preparation works and the construction of a new facility,” he added .
