PICTURES: Salt Ayre fitness centre and spa takes shape

A new training zone is set to open at a Lancaster leisure centre as part of a £5m refurbishment.

Salt Ayre Leisure Centre, owned by Lancaster City Council, will open a new training zone on Saturday June 17.

The new facility includes functional training rigs, equipment for group sessions, a sprint track, a prowler, an Olympic lifting platform and free weights.

The estimated cost of change of use to this area is around £100k.

A free fitness event will see the launch of the zone on June 17 with prize draws throughout the day.

A Salt Ayre spokesman said: “The Training Zone offer will be completely different to the rest of the centre through the type of sessions offered and the kit being used; it will provide more ‘on trend/ current’ exercise offer to our members.

“We aim to have the best group exercise programme in the district.”

Meanwhile building work continues at the Tranquil Spa at Salt Ayre.

Around £1.5m has been spent on the spa which is set to open in Autumn 2017.

There will be a spa manager and a team of around three beauty therapists and two receptionists at the spa.

The council took the decision to include a spa into the facilities for a number of reasons.

They said these are:

To broaden the offer available to the community.

To offer more facilities which can help benefit wellbeing.

To attract a new client base into the centre.

To help establish Salt Ayre as a tourism destination venue – Spa day packages / group packages will assist with this.

To create new and more diverse income streams into the centre.

Stuart Glover, Facilities & Sports Development Manager, said: “We’re really excited about the imminent opening of The Training Zone and all of the new sessions that will run in this area.

“We’re striving to provide the best group exercise programme in the district and to add another state of the art facility to our already ample offer will help to achieve this.

“Tranquil Spa and The Community Hub, opening in Autumn, will be the icing on the cake for the development project and will open Salt Ayre up to new audiences and provide facilities that don’t just focus on fitness, but benefit our customers’ wellbeing too.”