Bilston leisure centre opened on Saturday
Bilston’s new £18.6m Bert Williams Leisure Centre was opened this weekend by the legendary Wolverhampton Wanderers and England goalkeeper that the new facility has been named after.
Bert Williams MBE and Wolverhampton Mayor Councillor Bert Turner cut the ribbon to declare the centre open on Saturday (December 3, 2011).
The 91-year-old, who made 420 appearances for Wolves and was capped 24 times by England, hails from Bradley and used to play football as a boy on the very spot where the Nettlefolds Way centre now stands.
The 5,600m² building, constructed by Shepherd Construction on behalf of Wolverhampton City Council, has replaced the ageing leisure centre. Facilities include an eight-lane, 25m swimming pool, a studio pool, sauna, dance studio and a health and fitness suite kitted out with the very latest equipment.
In addition, there will be four squash courts, a sports hall which can be used for badminton, basketball, netball, volleyball and five-a-side football, dedicated gym equipment for older people and a special gym for youngsters aged eight to 15. A crèche and meeting room are also provided.
Architect on the project was Wolverhampton City Council.
He said: “It was a great honour to play for Wolves, a great honour to play for England and a great honour to receive my MBE from the Queen – but to have this wonderful leisure centre named after me is the icing on the cake!
“I am sure the leisure centre will benefit many thousands of people over the coming years and I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to make this honour possible and make this day so very happy for me.”
The new facility has been funded by the city council and via a £900,000 grant from Sport England.