The leader of Lichfield District Council believes the local authority would be better off investing in a new leisure centre rather than “patching up” an existing one.
Friary Grange Leisure Centre is set to close to the public in April 2020 after it emerged that £2.4million needed to be spent bringing the building up to standard.
Cllr Doug Pullen, who became leader of the council in May, admitted on social media that the situation was not ideal – and hinted that the issue should have been dealt with by previous decision makers.
He said: “I can’t speak for previous politicians, so I don’t know why certain choices were made.
“But I personally would much rather invest in a new centre than patch up an existing one.”
A petition against the plan to close the leisure centre has now gained more than 2,200 signatures.
As well as a potential 42 redundancies, closure would lead to users of the facility having to travel to Burntwood after the previous closure of Lichfield’s other leisure centre at King Edward VI School.
Cllr Pullen said he was committed to helping find solutions in the short and long term.
“We don’t own the building,” he said. “We were offered different lease terms meaning it would cost us £2.4million just to keep the doors open.
“We’ve committed £75,000 to help users find alternative options in the short term and to finding an alternative solution within 12 months.”
