Sports centre to get six figure facelift

A sports centre is to undergo a quarter a million pound face-lift in time for the cricket season.

A £265,000 refurbishment of Vernon Carus Sports Club, in Penwortham, is underway with work set to be completed in April.

Improvements are being made to the clubhouse, changing rooms and scoreboard thanks to investment from South Ribble Council.

The upgraded facility is intended to be the focal point of a top-class sports and community hub in Penwortham ­after the town hall approved a transfer of more than 18 acres of land into council ownership last September.

These initial works were decided upon following meetings with club representatives and include roof repairs and energy efficiency measures such as the installation of double glazing.

Coun Mick Titherington, deputy leader of South Ribble Council and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: “The long-term potential for Vernon Carus Sports Club and the surrounding area is absolutely enormous, and our first step is to give the existing sports club the investment it deserves.

“We’re really pleased we’ve been able to begin work on the site so quickly so that everything can be in place for start of the new cricket season and the busy summer months and we hope everyone will be bowled over by the end results.!”

Don Parker, chairman of Vernon Carus Sports Club, said: “We want to make this a real hub for the local community, with football, boxing, bowls and cricket all side-by-side and the possibility of expanding into more sports in the future.

“Improving the clubhouse is an exciting first step and means we will be able to host more functions, raising more money which can in turn be invested back into sport.

“Once completed, we hope people from every section of our community will come down and get involved. We look forward to welcoming people of all ages and from all different backgrounds.”

The Vernon Carus site, comprising some 11.42 acres of land north of Factory Lane, is in the process of being transferred to council ownership from Lane End Developments Construction Ltd along with a further 5.76 acres at Penwortham Reservoir.