Keys to new £42m sports village handed over

The keys to the new £42 million Moorways Sports Village have been handed over to Derby City Council by its construction partner Bowmer+Kirkland, on time and on budget.

Gus Kedzior, associate director at Bowmer+Kirkland, has officially handed over the keys to the new sports complex to the city council’s cabinet member for leisure, culture, wellbeing and tourism, Councillor Ross McCristal.

Featuring a water park, including flumes and water slides, and 50-metre swimming pool designed to accommodate regional competitions, preparations are under way to get everything up and running ready for its opening in spring.

Councillor McCristal said: “It’s testament to the hard work of everyone involved that we have reached this milestone.

“Everyone pulled out all the stops to make this happen, and it’s particularly impressive when you consider that construction work started just before the start of a major global pandemic.

“I would like to thank colleagues who were involved in this excellent project from across the council and our key partners for making this outstanding achievement possible.

“Derby has a new state-of-the-art leisure facility to be proud of.”

Steve Chambers, regional director at Bowmer+Kirkland, said: “This project has been a major highlight for our team.

“It’s not every day you build an international standard Olympic-sized swimming pool and all the other amazing facilities on offer.

“The entire project is a result of great teamwork by everyone involved and our existing relationships with many of the team helped to achieve an on budget and on time handover, despite many challenges thrown at us by Covid.

“I am very proud of all our people who worked so hard to achieve a great result for Derby City Council and everyone who will enjoy this facility for years to come.”

The council is now working closely with its leisure operating partner, Everyone Active, who will manage Moorways Sports Village, on an opening date, which should be announced soon.

A time-lapse video of the sports village being created can be viewed here.