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£30m rebuild of Sobell Centre sparks protest
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent17 Sep 2008
One of London's most popular sports centres is to be demolished to make way for a replacement complex.
The Sobell Centre in Islington is expected to be bulldozed at the end of next year leaving locals without a sports facility for two years.
Council leaders have backed the £30 million scheme which will include a housing development on the site next to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.
They say the centre, built in 1973 with a donation from philanthropist Sir Michael Sobell, is dilapidated and will be cheaper to rebuild than repair.
The new complex will include a swimming pool, sports hall, gymnasium and fitness studio but may not include the ice rink, squash and badminton facilities currently available. A police station and youth club are also planned on the site.
But the council said it cannot provide any guarantees that some sports would not lose out to housing.
A developer will contribute an estimated two-thirds of the building costs and Arsenal football club will spend £1.8 million as agreed when it was granted permission for the Emirates Stadium. But local campaigners have complained about the timing of the centre's closure, saying they expect a surge in interest in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.
They claim that there is no need for a new centre and proposed an alternative £12 million refurbishment scheme to include a 200-metre running track which has been rejected by the council.
They say there are plenty of public swimming pools in the area and there is no need for another one.
Council chief executive John Foster will discuss the proposals at a meeting next week with Sport England, which may intervene if there is likely to be a significant loss of sports facilities.
Gordon Kerr, director of England Squash, said: "This is probably the largest municipal sports centre in London and is used by low-income families. The council want to push through the scheme because of housing but the local community is against it. We intend to oppose this at every stage."
Islington Council said it was "business as usual" at the centre, which has 3,000 users a week. But the council added it had to be knocked down because it had a leaking roof and outdated electrics and heating system.
The council said: "We have made it clear that we want to provide a leisure centre for the next 50 years because the current building is worn out and we can't keep patching it up. We cannot guarantee that every facility in the current building will be retained." Therewill be further public consultation prior to a planning application.
Reader views (9)
Aquaterra since the change in managemment alongside the council forgot their Ethics, their people, their staff
The council wants to make money as simple as that.
- Carlos Santos, london england islington, 28/08/2009 09:23
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The Sobell centre is in the middle of a less wealthy area of London. Islington council can not be allowed to make a profit from creating additional housing, whilst removing facilities.
The Sobell houses some of the very few public squash courts in North London, allowing people to access the sport without paying expensive private club members fees.
Refurbish or rebuild by all means, but don't reduce or remove much used and appreciated facilities.
- Nicky, London UK, 28/10/2008 15:29
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That centre is in constant use by everyone in the local area. There isn't a centre like it anywhere else.
If they have 30 Million then they can properly refurbish it rather than demolish it. The council is there to serve the public and providing sports services is one of the most high profile ways of doing it.
Demolishing this centre is a terrible decision and probably done by people that don't use it.
- Alex, London Hackney, 06/10/2008 10:14
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So knock down a perfectly good sports centre just as we begin to get the nation behind sport in the lead-up to the Olympics. And then build another snazzy expensive Gym & charge the local community wads to get in. Oh yes and isn't there going to be a very wealthy property developer sticking a mass of 2 bed flats on the site plus a couple of units for low cost housing to keep the council sweet. Yeah - sounds like a real winner, for someone!
- Stephen Thomas, London, England, 20/09/2008 01:01
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The youth of London often complain of boredom, having nowhere to go and nothing to do so they handg around on the street.
How can a reduction in the facilities available in Islington combat this.
- Grant Stretch, Guildford, Surrey, 18/09/2008 09:25
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Profit over the community - Why should we be surprised, this is Islington Council after all!
This is not the first time sports have had to suffer at the expence of the developers.
- Marcus Rebeyro, Islington, N.London, 17/09/2008 15:27
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I used to go ice-skating there back in the 70's. Boy what fun it was!
However, as the old saying goes,' out with the old, in with the new '.
- Michael, Herts, UK, 17/09/2008 14:50
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I agree... There's nothing like it around for miles. It will end up as another diluted sports facility which instead of encouraging loads of varied sports for people of all incomes, there will be fewer sports available to people with predictably more money. I'd love to think that the local community could win over the corporate giants for once and retain something that is core to the area. In the proposed two years of development (which would undoubtedly be over schedule) where are users of Sobell supposed to go?
I personally use it for squash and badminton because it's the only facility around which caters for those sports within a non-driving distance...
So, they gave the Sobell 35 years... Will they really give a new one 50? - before some new development buys up the land.
So... I think someone needs to start a petition from locals upwards.
Grrrr.
- Andy, Finsbury Park, London, 17/09/2008 13:26
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This will be such a terrible shame. The Sobell Centre runs activity days in the holidays at which kids can try their hand at badminton, basketball, trampolining and ice-skating - all for a very reasonable price. There are no similar facilities anywhere nearby. If they were going to rebuild it with the same level of resources it offers now, that would be something. But it sounds like the new version will contain fewer sporting facilities than before. Why does it have to be pulled down? Just so it matches the shiny, futuristic new Emirates Stadium down the road? I can't imagine any of the people who use the Centre will be supportive of this.
- Lindsay, London, 17/09/2008 11:43
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