King Alfred leisure centre

The King Alfred Leisure Centre in Hove is the largest wet and dry sport centre in the city of Brighton and Hove situated on Hove sea front and is owned and managed by Brighton and Hove City Council [ [http://www.kingalfredleisure.co.uk/index.cfm?request=a500 King Alfred: Brighton & Hove City Council Websites ] ] .

Facilities

The wetside facilities include a 25m 6 lane swimming pool which ranges from a depth of 1.2 to 2.5m. This pool is used by Shiverers Swimming Club for training [ [http://www.shiverers.co.uk/index.htm Home ] ] .There is also a lagoon area with a large slide for over 8s and a smaller slide for the under 8s [ [http://www.kingalfredleisure.co.uk/index.cfm?request=c1150167 King Alfred: Brighton & Hove City Council Websites ] ] .A teaching pool (depth 0.9m to 1.2m) is also used for swimming lessons which follow a syllabus designed by the ASA [ [http://www.kingalfredleisure.co.uk/index.cfm?request=c1105083 King Alfred: Brighton & Hove City Council Websites ] ] , the teaching pool can also be rented for children birthday parties.

Full wetside changing facilities are available including individual cubicals, family cubicals, group changing rooms and disable changing room (which uses the RADAR key scheme [ [http://www.radar.org.uk/radarwebsite/tabid/41/default.aspx RADAR - The Disability Network: National Key Scheme ] ] ). There are also lockers which take £1 coins. Three flumes still stand on the east side of the building however these have not been open for many years due to health and safety concerns.

The King Alfred Leisure Centre also has "Fitness Works Gym", a relatively small gym with a variety of machines and free weights, the larger Cheetahs gym [ [http://www.cheetahsgym.co.uk/index.html Cheetahs Gym Hove | Big Gym Small Prices! ] ] is also based in the building but is not managed by Brighton and Hove City Council.

A therapy room is based in the old entrance hall called purple turtle [ [http://www.kingalfredleisure.co.uk/index.cfm?request=B1113324 King Alfred: Brighton & Hove City Council Websites ] ] which offers a wide variety of treatments.

There are two sports halls, based in the old pool halls. The main sports hall is used for sports such as badminton, football, basketball, roller hockey and trampolining. The small sports hall is used for the mini mayhem sessions (a soft play session), martial arts, table tennis and sessions such as aerobics.

The King Alfred Leisure Centre also has a ballroom which has a wide variety of events from meetings, to exams as well as live music, most notably is the recent performance by Nick Cave on the 2nd July 2008 [ [http://www.theargus.co.uk/whatson/music/argusmusicreviews/2379442.Grinderman__The_King_Alfred_Ballroom_Suite__Hove__July_2/ Grinderman, The King Alfred Ballroom Suite, Hove, July 2 (From The Argus) ] ] .

There is also an indoor bowles club on the east side of the building (in what was once a car park) and the 'multiplay' facilities to the west which has netball and tennis courts [ [http://www.kingalfredleisure.co.uk/index.cfm?request=b1112389 King Alfred: Brighton & Hove City Council Websites ] ] . The centre has car parking facilities on the west side, above the ten pin bowling rink (which has been closed since 1999) and Megazone (a Laser shooting game) which is also closed.

There is also a cafe (Yes Cafe) which opened in 2008, replacing the long serving 'Splash Cafe' which closed due to the proposed redevelopment.

Pool Users

As well as public sessions the pools are also used by many clubs including Shiverers Swimming Club, Dolphins Disabled Swimming Club, Marlins Disabled Swimming Club, Brighton Lifesaving Club, and the newly (2008) formed Free-Diving club. The pool is also used by Brighton Swimming Teachers Centre (Please see www.lastminutelifeguard.com for information on lifeguarding / lifesaving courses) [ [http://www.lastminutelifeguard.com: Last Minute Lifeguard ] ] . Until 2007 the offices of Brighton Swimming Teachers Centre were based in the offices on the north side of the building, along with the Brighton Transport offices, however both parties left in 2007 due to the proposed redevelopment [ [http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c1001273 Brighton & Hove City Council - king alfred development ] ] , which has since been posponed [ [http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/indepth/kingalfred/kingalfrednews/1351781.Delay_on_King_Alfred_decision/ Delay on King Alfred decision (From The Argus) ] ] .

The pool was also used twice by David Walliams during his training for his channel crossing.

History

The King Alfred leisure centre had many set backs during its building due to the wars, it was used as a training facility by the Navy, being called the HMS King Alfred, giving its name. [http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/KA/King_Alfred_1.htm] .

Redevelopment

Due to the age of the building redevelopment has been proposed for many years with plans by frank Gehry eventually being accepted, stirring up much controversy about how it will fit in with the rest of Hove and the lack of sporting facilities for a city the size of Brighton and Hove. However these plans were shelved in 2008 due to the credit crunch meaning the required funds could not be borrowed and the housing market crash meant that the flats would not have produced the desired return. [ [http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/indepth/kingalfred/kingalfrednews/ The Argus News - Brighton Hove & Sussex, local and national news, business, weather and travel ] ]

Links

King Alfred Website [http://www.kingalfredleisure.co.uk/index.cfm?request=a500] Brighton and Hove City Council [http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/] Shiverers Swimming Club [http://www.shiverers.co.uk/index.htm] Argus News Page [http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/indepth/kingalfred/kingalfrednews/]

References