Member Article

Milestone reached at £26 million Great Yarmouth marina development

Morgan Sindall Construction has hosted a milestone topping out event to mark progress on Great Yarmouth’s £26m ‘once in a generation’ Marina Centre development.

Once completed, the scheme will provide a new destination attraction along Great Yarmouth’s famous Golden Mile. It is being delivered by Morgan Sindall Construction on behalf of Great Yarmouth Borough Council and will occupy the site of the town’s former and now demolished leisure centre.

Work started on the project in January 2020. The new health and fitness centre will comprise a 25 metre swimming pool suitable for competitions and galas, along with a learner pool with moveable floor, leisure water with fun play features, a water confidence area and two water flumes.

The complex will also be equipped with a health suite, incorporating a four-court sports hall, fitness studios and spin studios, a 100-station gym, an indoor climbing zone and a café with views to the seafront.

The development is intended to act as a catalyst for further investment as well as providing an important community and tourist hub for the promotion of both indoor and outdoor activity. It has been hailed by Great Yarmouth Borough Council as a ‘once in a generation opportunity’ to regenerate the town’s seafront promenade.

Since work commenced on the site, Morgan Sindall Construction has hosted a number of events to ensure local residents and the wider Great Yarmouth community are involved in the project. Recently this included giving councillors and local stakeholders a virtual site tour, along with arranging a site tour for Women into Construction to help support a more inclusive construction sector. Students from Suffolk New College were also given the opportunity to attend the site and see what it’s like to work on a large-scale construction project.

Alister Broadberry, area director for Morgan Sindall Construction East, said: “It is fantastic to be marking this key stage in the development of a transformational project for Great Yarmouth. We are heavily invested in making sure the Great Yarmouth community engages with the project and reaps as much benefit as possible from it.

“We will continue to work closely with Great Yarmouth Borough Council to realise their vision of a next generation, inclusive leisure facility that acts as an anchor attraction for the region.”

Great Yarmouth Borough Council leader Cllr Carl Smith said: “We’ve now reached an exciting milestone in the construction of this landmark building. This new state-of-the-art visitor destination will be a major year-round boost for Great Yarmouth and the surrounding area, bringing great benefits in supporting the health and wellbeing of our community and visitors for many years to come. It is also a stunning addition to our seafront.

“We are hugely grateful to the New Anglia LEP and to Sport England for their financial support of this important project which was crucial in enabling us to push forward with it, and to our contractors Morgan Sindall Construction for continuing to deliver results on schedule and on budget.”

Construction work is expected to complete on the Great Yarmouth Marina Centre in 2022.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Daniel Ash .