A POPULAR UK leisure center has been forced to close down to the devastation of customers.
The sudden closure has been labelled a “disaster” for the town, seeing it lose a pool, ice rink and other family-friendly facilities.
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Swindon‘s Link Centre was damaged by floodwaters during a downpour last month, which destroyed its plant room and left it without electricity.
Works are now being urgently undertaken to get it up and running again, but owners have warned it will take some time.
It has been revealed that the pool may not open until December, while it’s feared the ice rink may not be up and running until next year.
Other much-loved facilities, like the gym, fitness studio, soft play and trampoline park, are expected to be all go by next month, should electricity be restored on time.
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But, the local community says they’re devastated by the temporary closure.
It comes at a time when Swindon had already been dealt a massive blow as M&S revealed it was closing.
Footage showed its empty streets and boarded up windows after the massive retailer said it was leaving the high street.
GLL Better operates the leisure centre, and partnership manager Barnaby Rich said he understood the impact the closure was having on the town.
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He told the BBC: “This is a disaster for the people of Swindon, I’m hearing their frustration, I’m seeing everything on social media.
“We’re aware that this is an absolute disaster for the people of Swindon and we’re doing everything we can to get the centre back open for those people.”
Barnaby continued: “We’re working incredibly hard to try and get the first phase of facilities back open, in the meantime we’re working incredibly hard with specialist contractors.
“At this moment in time there are so many unknowns it’s difficult to pin that down to a date that we can put out into the public domain.
“We’re trying to get all the facilities back open in the shortest time frame possible, some things are more complex than others and we’ll need to do a phased reopening to try and make that happen.”
Teams who use the centre, like Tiger Shark Swimming Club and the Swindon Wildcats, said it had come at a “difficult time”.
A number of popular UK attractions have tragically been forced to close in recent weeks.
Last mont the world’s first inland surfing park was forced to close after eight years.
Another attraction shut up shop around the same time after tourists enjoying the heatwave swarmed the beauty spot.
