A MAJOR leisure centre and swimming pool are to be demolished due to council budget cuts.
The Aberdeen Beach Leisure Centre and Bucksburn’s swimming will be knocked down due to a nearly £700,000 cut to the operator’s budget.
Sport Aberdeen, who operate the facilities, said the funding cut on top of increases in the price of energy meant that it was “unable” to maintain the facilities.
The Beach Leisure Centre was shut last August as Sport Aberdeen aimed to make savings amid an increase to energy prices.
The SNP and Liberal Democrat coalition in Aberdeen City Council reduced the funding of Sport Aberdeen initiatives by £687,000.
“In December last year, our managing director Alistair Robertson met with council co-leaders, the chief executive and service directors and was informed of the financial pressures facing local government across Scotland,” said Tony Dawson, the chairman of Sport Aberdeen.
"As a council owned company, it was inevitable that Sport Aberdeen was invited to be part of the discussion and asked what it could do to help the council in this most difficult of circumstances.
“Given the scale of financial challenge, coupled with energy price increases, it was made clear that in the event of a significant funding reduction we would be unable to sustain all the services and facilities we operate."
After “reluctantly accepting” the need to close the facilities, Dawson said Sport Aberdeen would be looking into increasing public access to the swimming pool at Dyce Academy.
A new leisure facility is planned for Aberdeen as part of the beachfront master plan.
However, it is unclear how long it will be before a new pool is in operation.
Council co-leader Alex Nicoll said: “It is well known that the Beach Leisure Centre is at the end of its lifecycle, which is why we are planning for a new facility as part of the beachfront master plan.
"The leisure pool closed last year due to a combination of rising energy costs and problems with the pool plant infrastructure, and it is simply uneconomical to carry on.
"The council will arrange for the building to be taken down and the site cleared to make way for future developments."
