The Park Leisure Centre

Local authority leisure centres are having to compete in an increasingly crowded and competitive market place. It is therefore essential that they offer the right mix of services in an attractive environment to deliver the facilities that their local population wants to use.

At The Park Leisure Centre in Barrow the management team have gone to great lengths to ensure that the latest development at the site delivers on all fronts for the local community. Not only has the site undergone an extensive development and refurbishment programme, they have also worked closely with the local schools to ensure that the centre would include the elements that attract young members.

Barrow Borough Council has funded the £1.2 million improvement scheme through prudential borrowing and in addition signed up to a 10-year Investment & Services Partnership agreement with Pulse. Pulse were appointed principal contractor for the redevelopment and renovations of the Leisure Centre under a fixed price design and build contract. State-of-the-art fitness equipment, membership management and a member tracking system together with on-going sales and marketing support was supplied under the Investment & Services Partnership agreement. The deal also includes equipment updates and whole of life equipment servicing throughout the term of the agreement.

Fitness for all the family

The design of the new facility was specifically centred around the introduction of a second floor to house a dedicated children’s gym. This was seen as an essential element of the redevelopment by the centre, the local authority and Pulse who have recently launched a range of equipment specifically designed for children. The kids market is growing rapidly and it was vital that The Park offered a solution that would suit the whole family and not just the adult population.

The newly constructed second floor centre now boasts:

• A 60 station gym in the new Club Pulse fitness suite
• A new dedicated children’s gym called Club Max
• A new central circular feature reception point for the adult and junior gyms.

The first floor accommodates:

• Refurbished and enlarged dry changing facilities with dedicated disabled change
• New 140m2 air conditioned mirrored dance studio
• Suite of management offices overlooking the pool
• New air conditioned multi-purpose/meeting room
• Staff room
• Treatment room
• Membership sales office
• Refreshed viewing balcony to the sports hall.
  
  

Dedicated children’s gym

As part of the development Pulse has created a zone dedicated for children aged between 8 and 14 years of age. The new kids gym, ‘Club Max’, features the Pulse ‘Vibe’ range, which includes Vibe Fluid Rower, Vibe Fluid Upper Body Ergometer, Vibe Fluid Recumbent Cycle, a selection of the Kids Vibe circuit training equipment and also incorporates the latest Interactive Wall and Dance Mats solution from Pulse making the whole experience fun.

Margaret Wilson, Centre Manager at The Park is certain that the new facilities that the centre is offering will have a positive impact on the local community. “This development has given us the opportunity to cater for this market in a more comprehensive way. We see fitness becoming a family activity where the parents and children exercise in their own areas then meet within the social area to unwind. It is also apparent that some children just don’t enjoy exercising within a school environment.” The staff at The Park are certain that offering a children’s gym and dedicated classes are just the start of what will become the blueprint for gyms nationally.

The Park Leisure Centre is very proud to be the first in Europe to introduce the latest in exertainment products, with the revolutionary ‘Play Wall’ system. This interactive gaming experience, offers the most exciting and effective way to improve fitness, whilst having fun and has proved a huge success already with the local schools.

The latest children’s exercise craze. These individual floor mats offer children a great fun way to exercise to high energy music. The staff from the centre went out on the road demonstrating the dance mat exercises around the region, attending local supermarkets and festivals to encourage people to try out the dance mats to see what fun they are and how these can be a great form of exercise. The response was fantastic.

Sales and marketing campaigns

An integral element of the refurbishment at The Park Leisure Centre was a comprehensive and creative marketing plan that encompassed pre-opening marketing and promotional activities of the new facilities and detailed information and incentives of the temporary fitness provision.

Pulse produced a mixture of print and broadcast media advertising alongside direct mail campaigns, leaflet drops and community events. The awareness of the new facility resulted in more than 200 new memberships generated during the pre-opening weekend. Four weeks after opening membership stood at 1,080 which is a 30% increase of new members, the children’s gym followed the same success with an impressive 73 members.

“Pulse has continually delivered sales and marketing support of the highest standard and the commitment, drive and creativity shown during the launch exceeded our expectations. We are delighted with the results” says Margaret Wilson.