To many it must seem as though it is a near derelict building up the far end of Manor Road but to those that use the gym, it seems to dig its way under your skin and make you want the building to survive and to prosper. Talk of rebuilding or refurbishing the gym has been going on for over three years now and has been just that, talk. The gym, like all of us is now a little older, the roof leaks a little more progress has been nil and improvement has been limited to three well attended clean up days. There has been consultation and there has been an Open Day, this only served to raise expectations that with hindsight were never likely to be fulfilled.

Initially we believed that there was a budget of around £850,000 to fund improvements to the gym and the number of resident hours given attending meetings to try and secure the gym’s future has been impressive. However as months turn into years and there still being no tangible improvement, or movement to a more productive future, frustration inevitably turns to disappointment and then on to apathy. It now appears due to other commitments the improvement budget has reduced considerably from the initial sum thought available to £150,000 maximum. Which can only be spent outside the building itself not on repairing the structural fabric of the building to prolong its use.

This is a big year for the gym, a literal make or break year. The first thing that is needed is for a survey on the building to see exactly what it would cost to get the building into a fit shape. Without at least some remedial work being done, I would doubt that the gym will remain open to see in the whole of 2006. If the building is found to be generally sound then the money should try to be found to carry out the most important work and if there is a budget of around £150,000 available it be used to fund the work. Then Brighton and Hove Council can hand over the management of the site to the stakeholders who would endeavour to get the best possible use out of the building and give it the chance of a future.

In the meantime it is still in use and there are groups for people of all ages using the gym from football to gymnastics to table-tennis. Support them and your local gym by making good use of the facilities currently available where possible. The more residents using the gym the less likely its future looks in jeopardy and its closure less imminent.

Written by Philip Hickman.

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