Building has started on Stevenage's new pool and leisure centre, due in 2028. What it adds, what it loses, and where swimmers should park until it opens.

Building work has formally started on Stevenage’s new swimming and leisure centre. The council puts the cost at £45 million and says it is due to be finished in 2028.

Stevenage Borough Council announced the start on 14 September. Representatives of the council, the builder Morgan Sindall Construction and the operator Everyone Active held a groundbreaking ceremony on the site on 4 September.

The new centre replaces two ageing buildings: Stevenage Swimming Centre on St George’s Way and the sports side of the Arts and Leisure Centre on Lytton Way. The Swimming Centre stays open throughout the build.

What the new centre will have

The council’s announcement lists:

  • a 25-metre, 10-lane competition pool with a floating floor and seating for 150 spectators
  • a teaching pool, and a splash pad with sensory zones
  • a 250-station gym with consultation rooms
  • a six-court sports hall
  • three fitness studios and a dedicated spin room
  • a soft play area and a café
  • on-site parking, cycle parking and a bus drop-off area for school groups

The building will cover 6,330 square metres. It was designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects, and the council says it is the first scheme in the UK to use a post-tensioned design for a pool hall structure spanning up to 30 metres. Solar panels, swales and rain gardens are part of the plan.

What it will not have

This is the part the announcement leaves out. The planning committee report for the scheme, application 25/00424/FPM, which went to the council’s Planning and Development Committee on 9 September 2025 with a recommendation to grant, sets out what is lost.

Stevenage leisure facilities now and in the new centre A comparison of today’s Stevenage Swimming Centre and Arts and Leisure Centre with the new leisure centre. Sports hall courts fall from 8 to 6. Squash courts fall from 6 to none. Indoor bowls rinks fall from 6 to none. Main pool maximum depth falls from 3.8 metres to 1.8 metres. On-site car parking spaces fall from 91 to 53. New additions are a teaching pool, splash pad, spin studio and soft play. What changes when Stevenage’s leisure centres merge Today’s Swimming Centre and Arts and Leisure Centre, against the new centre Now New centre Sports hall courts Squash courts Indoor bowls rinks Main pool, deepest point On-site car parking spaces 86 6None 6None 3.8m1.8m 9153 New: teaching pool, splash pad, dedicated spin studio, soft play Source: Stevenage Borough Council planning committee report 25/00424/FPM, 9 September 2025. Graphic by Stevenage Today.

The losses, as the report records them:

  • All six squash courts at the Arts and Leisure Centre go, with no replacement.
  • The indoor six-rink bowls hall goes too.
  • The sports hall drops from eight courts to six. Sport England’s comments put this down to a lack of space for eight on the site.
  • The main pool will be 1.8 metres at its deepest. Today’s main pool reaches 3.8 metres, because it once had diving boards.
  • On-site parking falls from 91 spaces to 53, five of them for disabled drivers.

The pool depth drew most of the objections. Swim England objected because artistic swimming training needs at least 2 metres. The report says the Aqualina Artistic Swimming Club, which trains at the current pool, “would therefore not be able to use the new facility and would be displaced”. Swim England told the council there was no suitable alternative nearby.

The council, as applicant, said going to 2 metres would add “substantial additional construction costs” and running costs “without proportionate benefit to the wider user base”. It pointed out that the club also trains at Monks Walk School in Welwyn Garden City and at Hatfield Swimming Centre.

Sport England supported the scheme overall. Its modelling, quoted in the report, found that 97% of Stevenage residents’ demand for sports halls would still be met, by halls in and around the town, after the loss of two courts. Everyone Active advised the only regular club affected would be a pickleball group booking the hall for two hours a week, and that it would offer longer and weekend slots instead.

Where to park for the Swimming Centre now

The car park between the Swimming Centre and the Bowes Lyon Centre is the building site. Morgan Sindall’s project page says the on-site car park closed at the end of Sunday 12 April and will stay shut until the new centre opens in spring 2028.

  • Park at St George’s Way multi-storey (SG1 1EP) or The Forum car park (SG1 1ES).
  • Swimming Centre users get up to two hours’ free parking, the builder says. Give your registration at reception, much as now.
  • Blue badge spaces are in both car parks.
  • Club and school coaches use a temporary drop-off on Cuttys Lane.

One catch this month: the north side of St George’s multi-storey is shut until mid-October for resurfacing, and the council says capacity is slightly reduced. The south side is open. Our roadworks and travel page has the detail.

The builder says the alternative to closing the car park was shutting the Swimming Centre for two years.

It is later than planned

The formal start is about ten months behind the timetable the council gave in 2025. At the Stevenage Development Board on 6 March 2025, the council’s regeneration manager said construction would begin in November 2025 and finish by December 2027, the minutes record. The council now says 2028, and Morgan Sindall says spring 2028.

Preparatory work has already happened. The builder’s page says a new electrical substation was built outside the Swimming Centre earlier this year.

Who is paying

The price has barely moved in four years, on paper. A February 2022 report to the council’s Executive estimated £44.22 million:

Source Amount
Stevenage Borough Council £29.22m
Government Towns Fund £10m
Other, expected from the Community Infrastructure Levy and partners £5m

The £10 million is part of the £37.5 million Stevenage was awarded from the government’s Towns Fund. The 2022 report warned that inflation “could result in a higher contract price”. The council’s announcement gives £45 million but does not publish the contract sum or an updated funding split.

What happens to the old buildings

The planning report says the Swimming Centre will be demolished once the new centre is open, and a new car park built where it stood. The Arts and Leisure Centre’s sports facilities move across. The council’s announcement does not say what happens to the Lytton Way building itself.

What it means for you

  • Swimming carries on as normal at the current centre until the new one opens.
  • Drive in? Use St George’s Way or The Forum, and claim two free hours at reception.
  • If you play squash or indoor bowls, the new centre has no space for either. Ask Everyone Active now what it plans for your club.
  • Local firms and job seekers: Morgan Sindall has committed to apprenticeships, work placements and subcontractors from within 20 miles, working with the council’s Stevenage Works hub.
  • For other changes in the town centre, see our planning news and parking guide.

Sources