Marple gets a swimming pool back on Friday 11 December, eight years after the old baths shut. The £20m hub also brings a library, 60-station gym and clinic.

Marple will have a public swimming pool again from Friday 11 December. The new Marple Hub, which puts a pool, gym, library, cafe and the town’s clinic under one roof, opens to residents that day, Stockport Council announced on Friday.

The old Marple baths closed in 2018 because of health and safety problems with the building, the council’s project page says. The hub replaces it, along with the old library, clinic and police station, which were demolished to make room.

What is inside

The council lists:

  • a five-lane swimming pool with a movable floor, so the depth can change for family sessions, lessons or training
  • a splash pad
  • a 60-station gym and exercise studios
  • a new library at the centre of the building
  • a cafe and community rooms
  • Marple Clinic, moved into the building

The pool has handrails on its steps and a pool pod to help wheelchair users get into the water.

Life Leisure will run the pool, gym and classes. Marple’s police base has moved to Hollins House rather than into the hub, the council says.

How it was paid for

The building is funded by a £20 million grant from the government’s Levelling Up Fund. Sport England added £1.5 million for the movable pool floor and the splash pad, and £500,000 from its Active Environments fund for improvements across Marple Memorial Park.

Work on the park’s paths and outdoor facilities is running alongside the hub. In September the council said the next steps were the new car park, landscaping and interior decoration, according to its September update. The pool, changing areas and gym are now in their final stages.

What the council and Life Leisure said

Cllr Mark Roberts, leader of Stockport Council, said: “On 11 December, the community will finally be able to experience everything this fantastic new building has to offer, whether that’s swimming in the new pool, getting active in the gym, visiting the library, accessing health services or simply meeting friends.”

John Oxley, chief executive of Life Leisure, said there had “already been a great deal of interest in the new facilities”.

Library users: the temporary library closes first

The temporary library and the click-and-collect lockers at Marple Scout Hut close on Thursday 19 November, three weeks before the hub opens. The council says High Lane library will run an enhanced service in the gap.

If you still have a reservation waiting in the lockers after 19 November, library staff will contact you to arrange another collection point.

What it means for you

  • The hub opens on Friday 11 December.
  • Between 19 November and 11 December, use High Lane library instead of the Scout Hut.
  • Life Leisure staff are answering questions at the Marple Hub information pod in Memorial Park now.
  • Membership prices, swimming timetables and opening hours for the hub have not been published yet. We will add them when Life Leisure puts them out.

The council says Hazel Grove Library is next in line for what it calls essential improvements, but it has given no dates.

For more to do across the borough, see things to do in Stockport.