Tarka Leisure Centre is a
leisure centre
A leisure centre in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia (also called aquatic centres), Singapore and Canada is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people ...
in
Barnstaple
Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...
, Devon, England.
History
Plans to close North Devon Leisure Centre and construct a new centre adjacent to the Tarka Tennis site were abandoned in February 2009 as they were deemed too expensive at the time.
Construction on a replacement leisure centre finally began in September 2020. The main contractor was
Speller Metcalfe Speller Metcalfe is a UK based construction company. The firm was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Malvern, Worcestershire, with locations in Gloucester, Wolverhampton and London.
History
Speller Metcalfe is a family-owned business, establis ...
and the building was designed by Watson Batty Architects. The building was built adjacent to the former Tennis Centre to form one large facility.
North Devon Leisure Centre remained open until the completion of the new leisure centre. The facility was opened on 24 June 2022 by
Eddie the Eagle.
Facilities
The leisure centre contains a swimming pool with eight lanes and a swimming pool with four lanes. Both pools have a moveable floor. It also contains an "endless"
indoor ski slope, the first of its type in Devon. Additionally, it contains sports halls, a gym, indoor and outdoor soft play areas, and a
cafe.
[{{Cite web , last=Wyllie , first=Ami , date=2022-03-25 , title=Barnstaple's 'boring' new leisure centre slammed , url=https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/barnstaples-boring-new-leisure-centre-6854356 , access-date=2022-09-20 , website=DevonLive , language=en]
It is operated by Parkwood Leisure.
References
Swimming venues in England
Sports venues in Devon
Sports venues completed in 2022