Win a Forest Hill Pools membership

Fusion Lifestyle is offering the chance to win a three-month membership to the new Forest Hill Pools, worth £108.75. For your chance to win, simply fill in the form on Lewisham's website. Entries close 23 December 2012 and the winner will be notified in January 2013.

Forest Hill Pool is Open!

Forest Hill Pools pass final milestone

Lewisham Council have finally taken possession of the new leisure complex on Dartmouth Road and Fusion Lifestyle were given the keys on Tuesday.

We have been reluctant to post any updates recently given previous false starts, but the final fit out of the gymnasium and other areas now begins in earnest so that the pools can be opened before the official opening on Saturday 22 September.

There will be a day long feast of entertainment, activities and fun throughout the area. While Forest Hill Pools will be one of the main focus areas with taster sessions, tours of the new facility, exhibitions and more, there will be other activities going on.

Forest Hill Library will have a Victorian theme, with story telling sessions, the chance to record your memories of Forest Hill in days gone by and some creative writing opportunities. There will be entertainers throughout the day, traditional Victorian board games and free Victorian sweets.

The day will also be a chance to find out more about the Portas Pilot - an initiative to help regenerate the area and drop in on Sydenham School as they celebrate their 95th anniversary.

Forest Hill Traders will be launching their "Totally Locally" campaign (more on this later). Havelock Walk's artists will also have their amazing original art and design on display.

Truly a day with something for everyone.

Pools to open imminently

Mayor Sir Steve Bullock has just posted the following on his Facebook page

Just had a swim in the new pool in Forest Hill!!!! Its been a long struggle but worth it - the new building looks great and so does the old frontage - everyone involved is working their socks off to get it ready to open to the public in a few days time - I was there with some local school students to make sure the pool really is as good as it looks. it is!

This is great news and will be a great addition to Forest Hill.

Pools Update - July Opening?

At a recent meeting of the Stakeholders' group, presentations were made by Fusion Lifestyle and Willmott Dixon. The facility will be open 7am-10pm on weekdays and 7am-6pm at weekends and will include:

• a 25m length swimming pool
• a 16.7m length learner pool
• a 54 piece, state-of-the-art fitness suite with 20% of the equipment being IFI accredited. The Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) is a programme supporting the fitness industry to become more inclusive - catering for the needs of disabled and non-disabled people, as well as raising physical activity participation levels.
• two studios
• a café area. Fusion are currently tendering for the café operator. They have advertised through local and national press and received 14 expressions of interest, of those 8 have submitted pre-qualification questionnaires (the first phase of selection) and will be invited to submit a full tender brief on how they will manage the café. Fusion stated their desire to work with a partner who will actively engage with the local community.
• a community room for hire
• spectator viewing and
• an exhibition area

Fusion's presentation included provisional schedules for the pools. These can be viewed on our Flickr account - Blogger refuses to display them correctly. Please feedback any comments to email@foresthillsociety.com.

The timetable for the main pool can be found here. One lane will usually available at all times during a general swim session for lane swimming.

The timetable for the Learner Pool can be found here. The community sessions are a new addition for Forest Hill Pools which have been created to allow community groups such as disabled groups a slot on the timetable to use their local leisure centre. These sessions will be open to the community and Fusion Lifestyle would like groups to come forward who are interested in using them. If you email us, we will forward your email to Fusion.

Fusion Lifestyle also asked for any opinions on how the studios should be used to be fedback

Two other items were also discussed. A specialist design company called Atelier has been commissioned by Lewisham to design a permanent exhibition or artwork reflecting the history of the old Forest Hill Pools which will be displayed in the new building. Stakeholders were encouraged to bring forward any old pictures/ photographs or information they may have of the building or the area that could be contributed to this work. Contact Tim Andrew for further details.

Finally, the Council wish to go out to tender for an organisation to take on Louise House. They are open to innovative ideas on how to feasibly develop the site whilst retaining a community focus to the site.

The Council are hoping to open the building by July 2012, with an official opening ceremony on 22nd September 2012. Photos of the current progress can be found on Lewisham's, Willmott Dixon's and Forest Hill Society's Flickr accounts.

POOLS ‘TOPPED OUT’!

Our years of campaigning are now visibly evident. On 28 October Forest Hill’s new pools were ‘topped out’ at a ceremony to mark the end of the main construction phase. The Society was invited to attend as a member of the Stakeholder Group. In a somewhat pagan ritual, Steve Bullock, our Mayor, Councillor Chris Best, Lewisham Cabinet Member for Community Services, Mark Tant, MD of builders Willmott Dixon and Ivan Parkinson, Finance Director of Fusion, poured salt, oil, water and corn into a carefully prepared recess in the concrete upper floor of the building.

We were assured that the offerings would be removed prior to filling the recess in order to ensure structural integrity.

We were surprised to find both of the new pools full of water – apparently this was to test for leaks. At a subsequent meeting of the Stakeholder Group, we were shown all the surface finishes that were to be used in the building. The main pools hall will largely be finished in a traditional pale blue colour with white tiling in the pool and dark blue lane markings.

The building is progressing well and should be sealed from the elements by the end of the year. Current plans are for completion by late spring with opening expected no later than early autumn 2012. (Fingers crossed that it will be ready for the Olympics!)

The stakeholder group had a presentation from Fusion about their management plans for Lewisham‘s leisure facilities in general, and Forest Hill in particular. As a company which is also a registered charity they are committed to returning any profits they make to the benefit of the sporting facilities they manage. They have considerable experience of managing local leisure facilities including Brockwell Lido, Dulwich Baths and Peckham Pulse. With a 15 year contract to manage most of Lewisham‘s facilities, they will be looking after more than 50 facilities in the area.

The Pools Progress

As the Forest Hill Pools are replaced over the next year or so, we’ll hear from members of the team involved in the improvements. This issue we speak to Dominic Collins, Construction Manager for Willmott Dixon.

Q: What is your role on the pools project?

A: I have overall responsibility for day to day running of the project.

Q: What sort other projects have you worked on?

A: I have just completed a major school redevelopment in Kent and prior to this constructed the new Grandstand at Epsom race course. Willmott Dixon has constructed over 100 swimming pools over the last ten years across the country. Locally, we have constructed Hither Green Primary School, Crossways Academy and just completed work at Goldsmith's College.

Q: What did you think of the site for Forest Hill Pools when you first visited it?

A: The original swimming pool had already been demolished but we were very impressed with the clean and tidy condition of the site.

Q: What is the most interesting aspect?

A: For me it is the retention and full refurbishment of the original Victorian entrance and lobby building. When set against the original features of the Victorian structure, the modern aspects of the new facility are striking and say a lot about the buildings’ main purpose and function.

Q: What is your biggest challenge on this project?

A: The refurbishment of the Victorian entrance and lobby will need complicated temporary structural supporting works on the internal walls and floors.

Q: You will be working from Louise House (next to the pools), do you know much about its history?

A: I have read up on Louise House on the internet, I know that it was a Girls Industrial Home built in 1891, with Thomas W Aldwinckle as architect and William Johnson, builder.

Q: What is your dream project?

A: I am a big rugby fan so would love to construct a new stadium.

Forest Hill Pools Open Day

Lewisham Council has arranged a drop-in session for all residents as an opportunity to meet the Willmott Dixon team and ask any questions they may have about the construction works. The first session takes place today in Louise House, from 5 pm to 7 pm. There will be a further opportunity on 5th April.

Willmott Dixon Construction have been on site at Dartmouth Road for just over two months and in that time they have made a great start to the programme:

• The first few weeks were dedicated to enabling works, which included extending the hoarding line, carrying out remedial works to Louise House, setting up welfare facilities for the staff
• Lewisham Planning Department granted approval for all pre-commencement conditions, which allowed Willmott Dixon to commence building works.
• Construction work began in early February with ground excavation and levelling, using crushed material from the demolition of the pool halls to form a ‘piling mat’ - a temporary surface to carry the weight of heavy machinery such as the piling rig.
• To date Willmott Dixon have excavated and removed approximately 2,500m³ of soil, to be re-used on another site, and are currently carrying out piling works (piling 22 metres below ground level), in preparation for the new building’s foundations.

Work to Begin on Forest Hill Pools

On Monday 21 February, Sir Steve Bullock and Jim Dowd MP will attend a 'sod-turning' ceremony at Forest Hill Pools.

As many of your will know it has been a long and bumpy journey to get to this point, but this ceremony finally marks the beginning of the first stage of building the new leisure centre.

Forest Hill Pools move into Final Stages

Lewisham Council has now appointed the principal building contractor for the new Swimming Pools. Construction firm, Wilmot Dixon, will take over the site early in the new year. This is very exciting news at a difficult financial time for the Council  and confirms the final go-ahead.

Hilary Renwick, Lewisham’s Head of Cultural Services, has confirmed that construction will start towards the end of January. The current timetable sees the main bulk of the building completed in May 2012, with completion and testing of the services from June to August.  The Council is hopeful that the new facility will open to the community in September 2012. This is a complex site and there are a number of areas which could delay completion, but it is still exciting stuff and fits in very well with the end of the Olympics.

A further piece of good news is that the Council has invited all those on the stakeholder group to an initial meeting with Wilmott Dixon so that they can meet the Contractor's team and enjoy a celebratory drink.  Those of us on the Stakeholder Group very much look forward to continuing to work with the Council and its design team during the construction phase and hope to be able to influence the way that the building will be run and managed.

We will provide regular updates on progress from the New Year.  We are planning a series of interviews with different people involved during the project - from the architect to the site manager - so do let us know if there is a particular member of the team you are interested in hearing from.

Louise House

The other good news is that the contractors have requested to use Louise House, the former Girls’ Industrial Home, as their site office during the build. It may not be the most glamorous of uses for Louise House but it may have some long term benefit. The company says the parts of the building they use would be returned “in the same or better condition”. Importantly it would keep it in use and heated over two winters while the community continues to work with the Council to find a financially viable use for the building.

On further questioning, Wilmott Dixon confirmed that its tender includes redecoration of the areas occupied, services testing and enhancement, with Fire Certification and an allowance for building rates, service connections and consumption costs.

The old laundry block at the back will not be used.

Construction contract awarded for new Forest Hill Leisure Centre

Lewisham Council has just released the following announcement:

Work is expected to begin in January on building a new leisure centre in Forest Hill following the award of a construction contract to Willmott Dixon.

Roberts Limbrick Architects will work alongside Willmott Dixon to create the new complex with two new pools and other leisure facilities on the site of the former Forest Hill Pools. The existing Victorian frontage of Forest Hill Pools will be retained.

Facilities in the new building will include a 25-metre pool, a 16.7-metre learner pool, fitness gym, two studios, community room and a café. The new development will include facilities and access for those people with disabilities.

Councillor Alan Smith, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “I am delighted that we are now able to move towards the next crucial stage of this long-awaited facility.

“Willmott Dixon made an excellent and detailed bid and I have complete confidence that the company will meet the challenges demanded by this complex structural engineering project. The company clearly understood the constraints of the site and have taken an innovative approach to their site set-up.”

Councillor Chris Best, Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: “This whole project has benefitted hugely from close collaboration and partnership.

“The final design was very much the result of a strong working relationship between the architects and the stakeholder group that was set up by the Council to liaise closely with residents. Together we found a solution that meets the needs of the local community and recognises the limited space available.”

“We have an excellent design provided by Roberts Limbrick Architects and now with Willmott Dixon on board we have an excellent construction company to build it.”

“The two companies will now work very closely together to deliver the new facilities. Willmott Dixon will start work on the site from January 2011 and we fully expect the leisure centre to be open to the public by the end of 2012.”

Mark Tant, Managing Director at Willmott Dixon, said: “We are delighted to be given the opportunity to create a fantastic new pool in Forest Hill. We’ve done a lot of work in recent years in Lewisham, such as Hither Green Primary School and Crossways Academy, and like those projects, we will aim to ensure our work benefits local businesses as much as possible through the sub contractors we use.”