St Albans Council Splashes Out

St Albans Council today announced that a new £24.7m contract to build the new Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre has been signed with Willmott Dixon Construction. Building work is due to start on 21 March and will include provision for:

• a 25m x 8 lane main swimming pool
• a 17x10m training pool
• a confidence water area
• a four court sports hall
• a poolside health suite, spa, fitness gym and youth gym
• two exercise studios
• a climbing wall
• a creche and children's soft play area
• a cafe/bistro

The new leisure centre is expected to open in the Summer of 2012. In the meantime, the existing centre will remain open to the public. The council has also today launched a new range of adult swimming lessons to help people learn to swim or to improve their technique. Available at Harpenden Swimming Pool (01582 460683) and Westminster Lodge (01727 846031), the eight week courses cost £24 for new customers and is open to anyone over the age of 16. Let us know if you decide to take the plunge!

Libraries gave us power

If you love books and all things literary then you'll be well aware of the rollercoaster ride that readers are being subjected to at the moment with libraries in and around St Albans facing drastic cuts in public funding. You can read more about the nitty gritty of these cuts here, but the bottom line will mean in St Albans opening hours will be reduced by 20% and Harpenden hours reduced by 33%. St Albans is not alone. Libraries up and down the country are being axed.


Who cares?
Author Philip Pullman for one. In a recent address at Oxford Town Hall he blasted Oxford County Council's lack of imagination in dealing with their own problems with spending cuts.
The Manic Street Preachers' Nicky Wire has also weighed into the fight with a call to arms to protect our libraries, and one of allaboutstalbans.com's great friends and unsung literacy luminaries, Jim Sells has come up with a brilliant idea to draw attention to the plight of our libraries. He's working closely with the Manic Street preachers to push their iconic single 'A design for life' into the number one slot in the popular music charts.  For those who don't know the first line in the song is 'Libraries gave us power'. You can show your support by joining the Facebook campaign now.


And the good news is?
Those wanting to make the most of Hertfordshire libraries before they disappear completely will be glad to hear that 'Litfest 11' starts across the County in March. There'll be loads of top authors visiting including Jacqueline Wilson, Robert Winston, Joanna Trollope, Kate Atkinson and Robert Goddard. You can catch the full line-up at a library near you soon.