Costs for a new day centre and swimming pool set to open next year have rocketed with the project now estimated to cost more than £6M.
The relocated Jubilee centre, which has been dubbed the ‘jewel in the crown’ for Bolton’s care sector, is set to open next year.
Bolton Council this week approved additional capital costs to build the centre of £456,000 , taking the gross project sum to £6.15m.
A report to the council’s cabinet member for regeneration, Coun Adele Warren, said the ‘impacts of material and labour inflation across the construction industry’ had led to the significant rise in estimated costs.
Contracts for the scheme are about to be finalised with work set to start at the Crompton Way site within the next two weeks.
Last September, Bolton’s planning committee unanimously approved the relocation of the Jubilee, a day-care centre with a hydrotherapy pool for adults and young people with learning and physical disabilities at the former site of Firwood Special School.
It will replace the existing Jubilee Centre on Tennyson Street, Halliwell, which was built in 1983 and has been deemed unsuitable for future use.
The centre is operated by Bolton Cares, the council-owned adult social care company.
Bolton Cares said the vision for the centre, was ‘a state-of-the-art day centre with hydrotherapy pool for adults with learning and physical disabilities, young people with autism, and young people with disabilities who have left school and are transitioning to adulthood’.
They added: “It will be a non-institutional, vibrant, light, airy, modern, warm, friendly, varied, technically up to date, acoustically sensitive and have high-value finishes with the wow factor.
“A place that doesn’t look like a day centre has an ambience of calm and purpose.”
In the report requesting the £456,000 budget uplift, Gerry Brough, the council’s director of place, said: “This report is seeking approval to allocate an additional £456k to the budget already approved for construction of the New Jubilee Centre.
“The additional budget is needed due to market impacts of material and labour inflation across the construction industry.
“This additional budget needs to be approved before committing to contract.”
The project is due to start on site in later this month, with a completion by the end of January 2023.
The current Tennyson Street Jubilee Centre site will be handed to the Department For Education to build a new school to meet increasing demand for school places in Bolton.
Mr Brough, added: “Vacant possession of the existing Jubilee centre is required for by February 2023, to accommodate a new free school that not only meets the increasing school demands needs but will accommodate pupils from the temporary Olive School site, which only has temporary planning permission.”
