John Charles Centre for Sport

The John Charles Centre for Sport is a sports facility in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was previously named (and is still known locally as) the South Leeds Stadium and was renamed to honour John Charles (1931-2004), the former Leeds United, Juventus F.C. and Wales footballer. It is to the south of Leeds city centre roughly on the border of the Beeston, Belle Isle and Hunslet areas. The sports centre opened in 1996.

It has previously been used by Leeds United Football Club for reserve matches and since November 1995 by Hunslet Hawks rugby league club. It is the principal athletics stadium in the Leeds area and is the home of Leeds City Athletics Club. The sports complex also includes a tennis centre and indoor bowls and athletics centre. The stadium is one of the best available to clubs at Hunslet's level. The complex is comparable with the Gateshead Stadium.

Access

When originally opened, the sports centre could only be accessed by car or on foot, at the end of a long dead-end road serving a factory estate. Since the road was extended through to Belle Isle, two bus services have been re-routed, providing a direct service from Leeds city centre to the John Charles centre. [http://www.wymetro.com/HowToGetTo/SportsVenues/JohnCharlesCentreforSport.htm]

Aquatics Centre

The Aquatics Centre opened on 29 October 2007 at the John Charles Centre for Sport. [cite web|url=http://www.leeds.gov.uk/page.aspx?pageID=91f468cb-26e0-45d7-8787-f33274cf7e08|title=Aquatics Centre |author=Leeds City Council | accessdate=2007-10-25] The Olympic size swimming pool will be a relocation from previous facilities at the 40 year old Leeds International Pool. The International Pool has now closed, and the council have no intention of re-opening the facilities, notable for its brutalist architecture and prominent city centre position, however no demolition plans have been scheduled for the pool.

Two submersible booms built into the main pool enable it to be divided into three pools of different sizes and depths, allowing a flexible daily swimming programme. A floating floor allows the depth of the diving pool and 1/3 of the main pool to be varied from two metres to shallow water for teaching and 0-5 meters for the diving pool. As well as public swimming sessions, the pool hosts children's parties, sub aqua classes and swimming lessons. The centre is also suitable for national and international swimming and diving, with seating for 650 people overlooking the main pool and for 150 overlooking the diving area. The £16.5m centre also includes an aerobics studio and multi-use rooms.

The relocation of the city's main public swimming facilities to the South Leeds Stadium, attracted much criticism. Doing this left the City Centre deprived of public swimming facilities and the new facilities were, until recently, harder to reach for most people in the city without the use of a car. The South Leeds Stadium is also very remote, for people in North Leeds and such suburban towns within the Leeds City Council region such as Yeadon, Otley and Wetherby, although numerous other public sport facilities are available throughout the Leeds Metropolitan District.

ee also

*List of Olympic-size swimming pools in the United Kingdom

References

External links

* [http://www.leeds.gov.uk/page.aspx?egmsIdentifier=92E3BE57BD5C06CD80256E1A00424F70 John Charles Centre for Sport at the Leeds City Council Website]