Comhairle invest into facelift and refurb for four island gyms

Gym facilities in Lewis, Harris, Liniclate and Castlebay are all closed this week as each centre undergoes a significant refurbishment following a £340K investment in new equipment.
The gym area at the Lewis Sports Centre has been stripped back ahead of the installation of new equipment.The gym area at the Lewis Sports Centre has been stripped back ahead of the installation of new equipment.
The gym area at the Lewis Sports Centre has been stripped back ahead of the installation of new equipment.

Top of the range and cutting edge technology is being used in many of the new machines and equipment with some coming to the isles before anywhere else in Scotland.

In Stornoway, the Lewis Sports Centre closed on Monday where it is scheduled to open again this coming Monday (Jan 16) but Tony Wade, Lewis Sports Centre Facility Manager says it could open earlier if the work is completed sooner.

“If we can open any earlier we will do,” he said.

“We replaced the flooring as well as we have never had the opportunity to do so, which means this was the first time we replaced the flooring in 12-years since the building opened.

“All the old equipment was stripped out and distributed to community centres and third sector organisations. Part of the process has been to remove the equipment, service them and make sure they are working and distribute from everywhere around the island from Ness to Breasclete to Pairc and so many other areas.”

He added: “We now have modified CV equipment and a few new things which weren’t available previously. We are in fact the first site in Scotland to get access to one of the machines which is brilliant.

“We are also using the most up-to-date wifi, cloud enabled technology to enable customers to access their data remotely. It is really exciting and when it is up and running it also allows users to keep all their training data together and things like if someone uses Strava or any other GPS mapped apps for a run outside around the Castle Grounds for example, they can map the same run onto the treadmill and repeat the run there.

“New things to keep people motivated but the new kit has so many capabilities.”

Councillor Catriona Stewart, Chair of Education and Children’s Services, said: “This demonstrates the Comhairle’s continued commitment to providing the best possible sports facilities throughout the Western Isles and to support members of the public to lead healthy and active lifestyles.

“I also warmly welcome the resulting community benefit which will see community centres and various community groups from Daliburgh to Ness, receive the existing equipment.

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