Last year Portsmouth City Council launched a £6.6 million project to replace Mountbatten Leisure Centre’s roof and carry out essential maintenance and repairs.

Carried out by specialist contractors, the project is being phased to minimise disruption to public health and wellbeing services.

The first phase of work is scheduled to conclude in the summer and the centre’s sports hall, which has been temporarily closed, will reopen for sports, exercise classes and events.

The second phase of construction is currently underway. Mountbatten’s Terrace Café and soft play have temporarily closed while other centre facilities, including Clip ‘N Climb, squash court and function suites, remain unavailable until early 2025.

The third phase of works will see the learner pool temporarily close from Monday 3 June 2024 to accommodate a new section of overheard roof works. To minimise disruption, essential pool maintenance will also be carried out. The learner pool will reopen on Monday 12 August 2024.

The rest of the centre, including the car park, gym, main pool, changing rooms, athletics track and velodrome are unaffected and remain open as usual. Alternative activities and classes are available at other centres including Portsmouth Tennis and Gymnastics Centre, Pyramids and Charter Community Sports Centre.

A pop-up café serving hot and cold drinks and snacks will be available from the main foyer.

Mountbatten Leisure Centre is managed by registered charity BH Live, in partnership with Portsmouth City Council.

Leader of the Council with responsibility for leisure, Cllr Steve Pitt, said:

"The original section of Mountbatten Centre's roof was built in the 1980s and the plant equipment and structure are no longer sustainable, so it's vital to carry out these works for the centre to continue to operate.

"We're providing the funding for the works at Mountbatten Centre because we're committed to provide this much-needed health and wellbeing facility for our residents, in line with our vision for people to live healthy, happy lives."

Customers are being advised of the upcoming changes. Alternative pools, gyms and classes are also available for customers to use as part of their multisite BH Live Active membership or on a pay as you go basis at other local centres. Facilities vary at each centre.

See bhliveactive.org.uk or the BH Live Active app for class and activity information or ask in centre if any assistance is needed.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

About the project

The repair to the Mountbatten Leisure Centre roof and plant was agreed in Portsmouth City Council's 2023/4 capital budget, as one of four key investments. The others being for power upgrades at the port, city centre north regeneration and transport and street environment improvements, including active travel. Other spending in the council's 2023/4 budget saw investment in schools, additional spending in Children's Social Care and Adult Social Care, doubling the tree canopy across the city, the provision of grants to families on low incomes to help with the Cost-of-Living Crisis, and investment in the seafront.

For more information about BH Live please contact: 

E: press.office@bhlive.org.uk 

T: (01202) 055562

About BH Live

BH Live is a leading operator of leisure and event venues; a registered charity and social enterprise that designs and builds engaging experiences to inspire people and enrich lives.

Our social objectives are to:

• Encourage more people to take part in physical activity – by providing leisure facilities to encourage active communities and improve health and wellbeing.

• Attract bigger entertainment audiences – with a diverse range of cultural and artistic events that appeal to a wide variety of tastes.

• Deliver economic benefit – by hosting major conferences, exhibitions and events that benefit the local, regional and international economy.

With more than five million visits a year we are changing lives and are at the heart of the UK’s growing social economy.

For more visit bhlive.org.uk.

Get social with us: 

LinkedIn and Twitter @BHLIVE_UK 

Facebook @SocialEnterpriseBHLive

BH Live operates the following venues in partnership with Portsmouth City Council:

• Mountbatten Leisure Centre – Portsmouth’s flagship leisure and event venue with swimming pools, a 150 station gym, eight-court sports hall, squash, spin and dance studios, a cycle velodrome, athletics track, function suites with bars, a café and soft play facility.

It is also home to a Clip ‘N Climb leisure attraction which opened in 2018.

For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk.

Get social with us: 

Twitter and Facebook @mountbattenlc

• Pyramids Centre – one of Portsmouth's leading leisure venues overlooking Southsea beach and the Solent. It has state-of-the-art Technogym fitness equipment in a spacious gym with functional fitness, strength and cardio zones. There is a dedicated area for health assessments and people who are new to exercise, plus fitness tracking technology to help support people in reaching their activity goals.

Four activity studios provide a variety of daily exercise classes including Group Cycling, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), Yoga, Pilates and the Les Mills programme.

The centre is also home to Exploria, a themed play and bounce attraction which opened in 2021. A range of exciting experiences stimulate play and challenge children agreed from 6 months upwards. A bounce zone includes a diving tower with air bag, interactive games, themed slides agility parkour, battle beams and foam pits. The play zone includes ball pits, spider’s web and cargo climbing features, a rope bridge skywalk, bash bags, tunnels, rollers, beams and dodge ball shoot out. And the baby and toddler zone has all things Exploria, but downsized for little ones. There is also a range of interactive games, a dedicated sensory room, four themed party rooms and a café serving snacks, light bites and drinks.

For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk and exploria.org.uk.

Get social with us: 

Twitter @PyramidsCentre

Facebook @Pyramids.Centre

• Portsmouth Gymnastics Centre – gymnastics hall with physiotherapy and meeting room.

For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk.

Get social with us: 

Facebook @PortsmouthGymnasticsCentre

•  Portsmouth Tennis Centre – Situated in the north of Portsmouth consisting of four indoor courts and six floodlit outdoor courts. A comprehensive coaching programme caters for all ages and abilities. Sessions are available for tots, juniors, adults and also includes variations of the sport such as cardio tennis and touch tennis.

For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk.

Get social with us: 

Twitter @PortsTennis and Facebook @PortsmouthTC

• Wimbledon Park Sports Centre – sports hall with badminton and basketball courts

For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk.

Get social with us: 

Facebook @WimbledonParkSportsCentre

• Charter Community Sports Centre – 20m swimming pool, 20 station gym, sports hall and an outdoor multi-use games area.

For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk.

Get social with us: 

Facebook @CharterCommunitySC