| Dromore (County Tyrone) based contractors, McAleer and Teague have been awarded the contract to refurbish the Fermanagh Lakeland Forum Sports Complex at the Broadmeadow, Enniskillen. The Lakeland Forum opened in May 1976.
An aerial view of the soon to be refurbished Lakeland Forum Sports Complex, Enniskillen.
© Photo courtesy of Bill McBurnie 2008
The Director of Leisure Tourism and Arts, Robert Gibson, confirmed awarding of the contract and said discussions were under way at present on a start date for the contract.
"We had hoped it would be by the end of the year, but certainly early in 2009 it will get under way and it will take seven-eight months. The Forum will remain open during the work which will be phased. There will be a certain amount of disruption but, as I've explained, the contractor will be using a phased approach."
Mr Gibson further stated, "It is important we do the work now. It takes in almost 550,000 visitors a year, between local people and tourists, a category people sometimes don't think about. Then, there are the education boards who work in conjunction with us to offer a complete schools' swimming programme. That to us is very important that a county with almost 20 per cent of it water that our children should learn to swim. It's also an opportunity too for the schools.
So, the refurbishment will improve all of that. It's another of our improvement projects, and we have just opened a 'third generation' playing surface at the Forum."
The Lakeland Forum is open seven days a week as is the Bawnacre Leisure Centre in Irvinestown.
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