Opening of €300k leisure centre extension
Another special day in the history of Birr Leisure Centre and Swimming Pool will be celebrated on Saturday, December 1 at 2.30pm when the official opening of the the newly completed extension of the gym and changing village takes place.
The cutting of the tape will be carried out by Frank McNamara who was an original Board member and Secretary of Birr Development Company, which is and has been the legal entity behind Birr Leisure Centre. Frank will be assisted by Damian Breslin, who is a member of the Offaly Special Olympics and has represented the pool and Offaly with distinction in Special Olympics.
The extension has been completed at a cost of €300,000, receiving financial support from Sports Capital Funding, Rural Developement Funding from the OLDC and from our own resources including some borrowings.
The new expanded facility offers increased comfort and allows an expanded range of activities in the gym.
It is the intention to have support staff available to all attendees of the gym, be it supplying simple instructions on the use of equipment or providing a planned personal or group programme.
The gym will be under the management of Fionn O'Carroll, who will plan and provide the programmes. Fionn is an experienced sport scientist with a demonstrated history of working in health, wellness, sport and fitness industries. Skilled in exercise physiology, personal training, nutrition and sports psychology, he has worked with a variety of populations from individuals, grassroots sports to professional athletes both nationally and internationally.
He will be joined in the coming weeks by another talented individual who has a history and reputation of providing exciting fitness programmes and one-to-one personal training.
Services on offer will include a variety of classes such as bootcamps, circuit training, yoga, spinning and pilates. One-to-one training, small groups and sports team training is also available.
Marian Carter remains overall manager of the Leisure Centre and will be continuing to ensure the pool and its timetable attracts and facilitates the widest range of patrons of all ages from parent and toddler groups, schools, children and adult, aerobics, as well as personal individual swimming lessons.
The facility will continue to open from 7.30am to 10pm weekdays with slightly reduced hours at weekends. Unfortunately due to rising overheads the centre has been forced to review the admission fees, some of which have not changed in ten years. There will be a small increase of approximately 6%.
John Carroll as Chairman of the Board invites all patrons, past board members, and the general public to drop in at 2.30pm this Saturday to celebrate the opening and see what is on offer in the centre.