REPAIRING the concrete roof of the auditorium at the Sands Centre has taken "too long" it has been claimed.

Councillor Robert Betton (Botcherby, Independent Group) raised the issue at this week's meeting of Cumberland Council at the city's Civic Centre.

He asked: "The Sands Centre auditorium in September 2023 was closed and remains so today due to the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), a composite manufactured and used from 1950-90 in floors, roofs, and walls.

"The leader stated, 'Improvement works for the older part of The Sands Centre building were part of a phase two of the redevelopment and work was already underway to progress these works. This work will now be accelerated, and further updates will be provided in due course'.

"Can the leader provide an update as to whether any other mitigating measures have been considered to make safe the auditorium for use until the contract for remedial works progresses or have any nearby suitable venues been considered for visiting artists, panto or other events instead of just closure?"

However, as council leader councillor Mark Fryer (St Johns and Great Clifton, Labour) was unable to attend the meeting, the question was answered by councillor Barbara Cannon (St Michaels, Labour) who is the portfolio holder for financial planning and assets.

She said that, when the government guidance changed, mitigation measures, including steel supports, were put in place and the council had consulted a steel reinforcement engineer.

Cllr Cannon said that independent advice had shown that it was not possible to keep the centre open and they were in the final stages of procurement of a suitable contractor for the repair project.

This week it was announced that Carlisle firm Cubby Construction had been appointed to design and replace the Sands Centre RAAC roof after councillors approved the move during the private part of the meeting.

However, cllr Betton said: "In my eyes and the public's eyes, that attend events, it's been put off for so long. Why has it been closed for so long? It should have been done a long time ago."

He said there had been a knock-on effect and local trade had suffered as a result of the closure. He added: "The centre brought much needed trade in and that has gone."

Cllr Cannon reminded cllr Betton that the Government changed the policy and they had acted very quickly since then.

In September it was announced that events at the centre's auditorium had been postponed following the change in government guidance on RAAC.
It had originally been found to be present in the auditorium roof in 2019.

This initially led to the scrapping of Shrek The Musical along with three other scheduled events in the month ahead, including The Simon & Garfunkel Story and Fastlove: A Tribute to George Michael.

At the time a council spokesman reiterated that the new main building of Sands Centre, which houses pools, gym, sports halls, café, bars, and restaurant, remained unaffected and open.

Last month (December) catering provision at the centre ‘temporarily’ closed with the operating company, Hickory Foods, cited the enforced closure of the auditorium as the main reason.

The auditorium is set to remain closed for the majority of 2024.