Today’s official opening of the Pemberton Centre is the culmination of the Council’s determination to invest in leisure through the community and provide a prestigious facility that meets varied leisure needs in the most positive manner. The sporting and fitness needs of the regular public users of the former sports centre were of course central to the Council’s ambitious development plans and within the new Pemberton Centre they will continue to enjoy the widest range of high quality facilities both specifically created for the new centre or upgraded for their further enjoyment.

But the Pemberton Centre has been designed as a full community facility to meet arts and other demands as well and the creation of the magnificent Pemberton Suite will mean that the Rushden Amateur Theatrical Society amongst many other new users will also be able to call this their home.

Each new use will create new demands, and it is to the credit of all involved in the project, that the flexibility of the design allows the Pemberton Centre to confidently meet these many challenges within an exciting environment which encourages the fostering of even stronger links with its users.

That over time too the Pemberton Centre will stage professional theatrical productions and host county and regional and even national sporting promotions can only add to the attractiveness of the venue.

A vital element is the Council’s developing partnership with its management company Relaxion Group PLC who funded both Harpers Fitness Centre and Adventure World as part of £200,000 investment in the facility whilst a Rushden Amateur Theatrical Society donation enabled £12,000 of new audio and lighting equipment to be installed in the centre.

The centre boasts a superb health and fitness suite including a dance studio and a high tech fitness room. Indoor sporting provisions have been upgraded to accommodate ever increasing demands, and a new fully sprung sports floor is a further major asset. Children are fully catered for with the amazing Adventure World soft play area, and the crèche facilities will allow parents to enjoy centre participation to the full in the knowledge that their youngsters are doing likewise.

Through ingenious design the Pemberton Suite can be quickly adapted for stage productions, dances, formal dinners, receptions, buffets and a myriad other uses. Adjacent rehearsal and meeting rooms provide a further dimension.

In the late 1960’s the general public began to appreciate the vast amounts of publicly financed leisure resources which were literally locked up in school premises when schools closed at 4pm. The need to allow public access to these assets was obvious and in 1974 the district and county councils agreed to build and operate on a shared cost basis the Rushden Sports Centre, a multi sports indoor facility which opened to the public in 1976 on this site.

Public pressure on the new indoor sporting facilities were such that within a further two years, two additional squash courts and a fitness centre were added to the original building.

By the early 1990’s however the County Council wished to introduce mixed gender education into Rushden, necessitation a rationalisation of its resources, which were ultimately achieved by the District council assuming ownership of the Rushden Sports Centre for leisure development plus for housing purposes some surrounding land which will realise 25 new houses for rent.

As part of its by now rapidly developing leisure strategy, East Northamptonshire District Council envisaged the creation of a multi purpose community centre  on the site which would meet the increasingly varied demands of a leisure conscious community in the most flexible way nd for the foreseeable future.

All the design work for the £1,300,000 facility and the refurbishment of the existing sports areas has been carried out by the Department of Community Services of the District Council, with the principal contractor being Marriott Ltd., of Rushden.

A special recognition at this stage must go to the Foundation for the Sports and Art which provided £75,000 of grant aid for the project.

7.00pm

A Tour of the Pemberton Centre.

Councillor John Chatburn, Chairman of East Northamptonshire District Council will lead the first party of guests on a tour of the Pemberton Centre. He will be accompanied by Roger Heath and John McGinley.

At approximately two minute intervals, representatives of Relaxion Group PLC and East Northamptonshire District council will invite parties of other guests to follow them on a tour of the Pemberton Centre.