School swimming pool closes
A SWIMMING pool where generations of youngsters perfected their breast and back stroke has closed.
The indoor pool at the Meridian School was shut as it was costing �20,000 a year to run and was in need of an expensive repair to the filter.
Dr Michael Firth, the school’s headteacher, said: “We have had to close it because of the rising costs of running it.
“We have a 40-year-old indoor pool which is built to the specifications of a 40-year-old building, which is very expensive to run.
“We very much regret the decision and we tried to keep it open.
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“Everyone knows that schools in particular are struggling financially at the moment and this is a cost we can’t bear any longer.”
The pool, which was completed the same year as the school in 1969, was used by pupils of the school for their PE lessons, as well as serving the wider community – including students from other schools in the town.
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Lessons and sessions will now be moved to the Royston Leisure Centre.
Royston’s mayor, Robert Inwood, said he regretted the closure, but understood the financial pressure Meridian was under.
“I think it’s a shame when any facilities like that close especially when just round the corner we have got the Olympics,” said Cllr Inwood.
“I can understand that the financial curbs hit everyone at the moment.
“It’s a shame because I can remember going swimming there when I was a boy.
“I know it’s been there for a number of years, but let’s hope that site can now be redeveloped to involve members of the community to use that area.”
