November Newsletter

Lambeth spending £6 million on the Rec 

Lambeth have 'ear marked' up to £6m to upgrade the Rec to ensure that it meets all current fire, safety, mechanical and electrical standards. This spending commitment will cover the estimated 4 - 7 years for the Council to develop detailed plans and secure funding for long term refurbishment works. The Council wants to have no partial or complete closure while this initial work is done. BRUG will be consulted at each major stage. We will keep you updated. The Council has also published a report exploring possible options and costs of major long term reconfiguration of the Rec at http://futurebrixton.org/brixton-central/brixton-rec-2/. Three options are given. Options 2 & 3 include bringing the entrance(s) and main gym to street level, elimination of the bowling green, an outside climbing wall and much more. The need for, or value of many of these changes is not clear. Cllr Jane Edbrooke, Cabinet Member for Culture & Leisure, has told BRUG that the Council has as yet no idea how it might fund the £21m-£45m costs of these. She led BRUG to understand that these options are formulated to explore the scale of works and their overall cost. See a record of our meeting with her here.

 "Brixton Rec one of the best sports centres of all time"

 "The building should be protected" said post war 20C architectural expert Phillip Boyle at the fascinating recent BRUG open meeting. He and some other Architects argue the Rec should be 'listed, to strengthen sustainable sensitive management and provide meaningful consultation over changes to the building. Find out more here.

Culture 2020

The Rec will NOT be included in the Council/GLL scheme to govern the 3 library gyms, a major proposal of the Council's report 'Culture 2020'. Cllr Edbrooke has assured BRUG that GLL will continue to run the Rec under its present contract with GLL until 2022. Report at here.

Disabled Users Team

BRUG wants to set up a small disabled users team to inspect & keep a watch on disabled user needs in the Rec and propose immediate and longer term improvements, like putting a lift in at street level.Contact recusergroup@ btinternet.com to take part.

Architectural Photography Simon Kennedy Copyright © 2015, Brixton Rec User Group, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: recusergroup@btinternet.com

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DOCOMOMO Talk Brixton Rec 27th Oct

"The building should be protected" said post war 20C architectural expert Phillip Boyle at the fascinating recent BRUG open meeting. He and some other Architects argue the Rec should be 'listed,to strengthen sustainable sensitive management and provide meaningful consultation over changes to the building. 

Please listen to the unedited audio of the meeting below. A written transcript will be available shortly.

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