WOKINGHAM’S Carnival Hub project has reached a key mile stone.
Last week, a topping out ceremony was held to mark the highest construction point of the project reaching completion.
The facility, which will be home to a sports and cultural centre, including swimming pools, a spa, and a 400-seat theatre, is due to open next summer.
As of last week, the Carnival Hub’s shell is nearly complete with final cladding to be installed by the end of October.
Cllr Parry Batth, executive member for environment and leisure, said: “The Carnival Hub is going to be a fantastic community facility and this is an exciting milestone in the project.
“The new hub demonstrates the significant investment we are making to ensure our borough is a great place to live, learn, work and grow, and do business.”
Over the coming months, work will continue inside of the Hub including constructing the pool deck and tiling it.
Gert-Jan Peeters, director of Pellikaan Construction Ltd, said it was great to celebrate the ongoing project with the recent topping out ceremony.
“We are now concentrating on completing the interior works, technically as well as providing the finishes that will make this a great leisure centre and library to enjoy for the people in Wokingham Borough.”
Construction on a series one- and two-bedroom apartments on the site of the former Carnival Pool and Leisure Centre is also due to start soon.
In March 2020, planning permission was granted for 55 dwellings which will link the site through to Elms Field and the town centre.
Cllr Bill Soane, executive member for neighbourhood and communities, said: “We’ve been planning and preparing for this project for many years and its great to see the progress that has been made in recent months at the Carnival Hub.
“As well as a leisure centre, the Hub will become the home of Wokingham Library too.
“I’m sure it will continue to be a place that our residents love to visit and will serve the local community for years to come.”
The new dwellings will be built off site and put in place by February 2022.
The original designs were revised last year to make the homes more energy efficient following a public consultation, in a bid to achieve net carbon zero by 2030.
They are the final puzzle piece of Wokingham’s town centre regeneration project.
David Merrills, operations director at Mid Group which will construct the new homes, said this is his firm’s first project with Wokingham Borough Council.
“It was an honour to welcome the councillors and team to commence the construction works, by breaking the first piece of ground together,” he added.
“Mid Group have now commenced the foundations and drainage for the project and in the coming months we will be bringing the off-site manufacture buildings to Wokingham.”
