Woolwich’s new leisure centre is nearly finished – and Greenwich Council is now asking locals what the new facility should be called.
The £115 million centre, facing General Gordon Square, will replace the Waterfront Leisure Centre by the Thames, and is due to open later this year. It will incorporate two swimming pools, water slides, a gym, a health suite with spa and sauna and a five-a-side football pitch. It will also have a cafe as well as a creche, soft play and party space.
There will be no opportunity for pranksters to christen the centre Swimmy McSwimface – residents have been given three names to choose from: Move Woolwich, Woolwich Active and Woolwich Waves.
An online vote will run until April 30. A similar poll six years ago led to the naming of Woolwich Works.
The new centre will also incorporate an extension to the Tramshed theatre next door, which reopened in 2022 after a refurbishment but has struggled to attract funding, leading to the council writing off a £200,000 loan at the end of last year.
Council leader Anthony Okereke said: ““We are months away from the opening of our gamechanging new leisure centre in Woolwich. A flagship project for the council, I know that excitement isn’t lost on our residents who will soon be able to take advantage of all the fantastic facilities that will be available to them.
“The new leisure centre is at the forefront of our plan to improve the quality of life and health of our residents. We’ve invested in the health and wellbeing of residents and this new venue will be used for generations to come, so it feels fitting that residents get the chance to name it.”
The new leisure centre is part of a wider development which is eventually due to include 482 homes and five towers of up to 19 storeys. An existing council block, Troy Court, is due for demolition; its 24 homes will be replaced with 51 new council ones. The Bull pub on Vincent Road closed last year as part of the project, but its facade will stay.
The Waterfront Leisure Centre, which opened in 1988, is set for demolition and redevelopment once the new centre opens. Somewhat surprisingly for a building that will only be in use for a few more months, the exact fate of the Waterfront site is unknown.
With the council still facing financial problems and attempting to sell other plots of land including car parks and the Shooters Hill equestrian centre, it is likely that the site will be sold for development, as recommended in a masterplan for Woolwich drawn up in 2012.
The masterplan also suggested extending Hare Street to the riverfront and opening up the site with new cafes and public squares.
The rest of the riverfront east of the ferry has been redeveloped by Berkeley Homes as part of the Royal Arsenal development on former Ministry of Defence land.
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