Tewkesbury Borough Council has announced that it hopes the new £7.5m Tewkesbury leisure centre will be open by July 2016, with Places for People Leisure set to operate the site.

Build work on the Pozzoni Architects-designed leisure centre is set to start on 9 February and will be carried out by Wilmott Dixon. The new site is due to replace the existing Cascades leisure centre, with staff to transfer across once it opens.

Located next to the council offices on Gloucester Road in Tewkesbury, the new leisure centre will include a main 25m (82ft) pool, as well as a 20m (66ft) learner/trainer pool. There will also be a range of dry side facilities at the new site, including an adaptable 60-station gym (suppliers yet to be chosen), sauna and steamrooms, a multi-purpose studio, plus a café and shop.

“After a competitive procurement exercise, Places for People Leisure were chosen as they are the perfect fit to run our new leisure centre and we are looking forward to working closely with them to ensure we offer a facility that’s got something for everyone,” said Tewkesbury Borough Council’s Claire Wright.

“This project is running full steam ahead now that the contracts for the management and the build have been signed, and we are looking forward to sharing the progress as it happens.”