That was the story on the front page of the Echo last week. A deal by Labour and Lib Dems over the Council budget has rescued the sports centre from closure.
St Marys is very popular and if not users themselves, most people can probably name a friend or family members who uses the centre.
The news will delight users of the centre and Labour are hoping it will give them a much needed boost to their campaign for the May local elections.
However when the euphoria begins to fade, it is worth spending a few moments considering the finances of the situation.
The budget deal has kept the centre open, but for how long? The building is very old (125 years) and in need of some pretty urgent repairs.
In fact £145,000 is needed immediately to remedy health and safety risks to the public using the facilities and to avoid the centre being in serious breach of safety laws.
This money is needed for roof repairs, floor repairs, rewiring, and for repairs to heating, water and ventilation services. The cost jumps to £172,000 when other safety issues are addressed that pose only a medium risk to the public and staff. Over the next 2 years an additional £105,000 is needed to avoid other further health and safety breaches. The total long-term cost of capital liabilities is just under £2.5m.
The budget deal that saved St Marys provides no additional funding for repairing the centre. In total there is £95,000 in the capital programme for repairs to the building.
The up shot of all of this is that the centre will be saved until after the local Council elections in May. Then it may well be someone elses problem.
Looking at it this way it does sound like a rather cynical political ploy. Also when you think that until recently Labour ran the City for 20 years, its really kind of their fault that the building is in the state it currently is in.
What is really needed is a prudent, long-term strategy for providing sports facilities in St Marys. The deal outlined on the front page of the Daily Echo certainly doesnt offer this.
Two years ago Conservative Councillors and indeed Labour Councillors went on a march to save St Marys. After the march the Conservatives put forward proposals to build a brand spanking new, purpose built sports facility in St Marys, funded by the disposal of the St Marys site and another council owned site across the road. The intention was to bring in other partners, like Solent University to help fund the initiative. Labour and the Lib Dems voted the proposal down and now they are left with an even more run down, even more unsafe building with no money to keep it open much beyond the next election.
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