History
The building was constructed in 1974, was named after the Bradford-born boxer best known for fighting Muhammad Ali in 1976 and was one of the largest leisure centres in the area, Complete with a leisure pool, a 25m long black hole water slide, gym, dance studio, sports hall, rock climbing, sauna and basket ball court.
The building had its problems. Due to its size and design, maintenance and repair works would have been a huge strain on the public purse.
And the design, with a huge domed roof, meant it was one of the most energy inefficient buildings in West Yorkshire.
Its closure in 2019 coincided with the opening of the nearby £17.5m Sedbergh Leisure Centre complex.
A former worker installed cameras in the changing rooms and sexually assaulted a child was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
The 70’s leisure centre was set to demolished but has now been given Grade II listed status.
The request for listed status was made by the Twentieth Century Society, which campaigns for the preservation of buildings constructed after 1914.
The Explore
These old leisure centres seem to be dropping like flies although to be fair a lot of them are being replaced with newer modern buildings.
This is leisure centre explore number 4 for me and unlike some of the others which were still perfectly fit for purpose this 1 however is not.
Its incredibly tired and outdated with a lot of original 70s décor throughout the building and not only that the main pool is pretty small with not a lot of natural light.
The whole building is like a maize and extremely disorienting, I must have walked round in circles a good few times trying to find my way back out.
I managed to get here extremely early after a 3 & a half hour drive to avoid being seeing by anyone who lives in the houses opposite.
Once inside in the pitch black I headed towards the swimming pool to wait for daylight and as I was walking through shining my torch I caught a figure crouching down beside the seating in 1of the huge sports halls.
Needless to say I absolutely shit myself but turned out he was just another explorer who thought I was security.
As we joined forces we walked round checking the place out waiting for daylight, then as daylight came we went our separate ways and I got on with my pictures.
The building was constructed in 1974, was named after the Bradford-born boxer best known for fighting Muhammad Ali in 1976 and was one of the largest leisure centres in the area, Complete with a leisure pool, a 25m long black hole water slide, gym, dance studio, sports hall, rock climbing, sauna and basket ball court.
The building had its problems. Due to its size and design, maintenance and repair works would have been a huge strain on the public purse.
And the design, with a huge domed roof, meant it was one of the most energy inefficient buildings in West Yorkshire.
Its closure in 2019 coincided with the opening of the nearby £17.5m Sedbergh Leisure Centre complex.
A former worker installed cameras in the changing rooms and sexually assaulted a child was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
The 70’s leisure centre was set to demolished but has now been given Grade II listed status.
The request for listed status was made by the Twentieth Century Society, which campaigns for the preservation of buildings constructed after 1914.
The Explore
These old leisure centres seem to be dropping like flies although to be fair a lot of them are being replaced with newer modern buildings.
This is leisure centre explore number 4 for me and unlike some of the others which were still perfectly fit for purpose this 1 however is not.
Its incredibly tired and outdated with a lot of original 70s décor throughout the building and not only that the main pool is pretty small with not a lot of natural light.
The whole building is like a maize and extremely disorienting, I must have walked round in circles a good few times trying to find my way back out.
I managed to get here extremely early after a 3 & a half hour drive to avoid being seeing by anyone who lives in the houses opposite.
Once inside in the pitch black I headed towards the swimming pool to wait for daylight and as I was walking through shining my torch I caught a figure crouching down beside the seating in 1of the huge sports halls.
Needless to say I absolutely shit myself but turned out he was just another explorer who thought I was security.
As we joined forces we walked round checking the place out waiting for daylight, then as daylight came we went our separate ways and I got on with my pictures.
keep them up, can't believe so many are coming up now.
