Concerns have been growing over the future of the facility following health scares involving asbestos – which led to parts of the Fort being temporarily shut last summer – and Legionella bacteria, while other areas of the centre have become increasingly run down.
Now, an independent report into the Island’s sporting facilities has recommended that the States shut Fort Regent and find alternative ways to improve access to different activities.
It warned that further health-and-safety problems – such as the worsening of the Fort’s external glazing – could force its immediate closure, and added that the cost of refurbishing the facility would be ‘exorbitant’.
The States have been advised to put together a phased plan to relocate clubs that use the Fort.
Assistant Economic Development Minister Steve Pallett, who has responsibility for sport, said that there were no plans to close the Fort in the immediate future, but that work needed to be done ‘as soon as possible’.
A new political oversight group is now being established to consider the report’s recommendations and to develop a sports facilities strategy.
The report, carried out by UK-based consultants Knight, Kavanagh and Page, made a string of recommendations including:
- Developing a new sports and events centre in St Helier to replace and improve upon Fort Regent and the AquaSplash.
- Assessing further investment into Les Quennevais Sports Centre.
- Consider creating an Island stadium for football and rugby.
- Consider creating a seafront watersports facility.
The report found that the Fort delivered a ‘wide spectrum’ of sporting facilities, but that despite efforts to cater for different groups, the current state of the centre had reached the point where it ‘struggles to do anything at an appropriate level of quality’.
The report said: ‘The general sporting offer at Fort Regent is simply not fit for purpose. It faces numerous specific challenges in relation to the condition, configuration and scale of the facility.
‘From a presentation perspective the facility smells damp, it is very cold in the winter and far too warm in the summer. It is generally poorly presented, faces significant customer access and control issues and it would appear to be a “ticking time bomb” of potential asset management and health and safety challenges.
‘It could, for example, necessitate immediate closure were, for example, the external glazing for the facility – which is single glazed and is constantly monitored to ensure its safety – to deteriorate much further.’
The report added: ‘The States of Jersey should agree to close Fort Regent (as a sports and entertainment venue and investigate other uses for the site).’
The Council of Ministers recently made improving the wellbeing, mental and physical health of Islanders one of its core priorities in the Common Strategic Policy document, which outlines the key focus areas for the next four years of government. Senator Pallett said: ‘We have got to do something with the Fort and we’ve got to start planning for that as soon as possible
‘People could say closing the Fort is a negative, but when it does close it will close so we can refurbish it for another purpose, or for a mixed purpose.
‘Nothing is going to change in the foreseeable future. We still have a commitment to Active Card members and to the public, and nothing is going to happen overnight.
‘The good thing is we have started the work and I’d be keen by the end of this year to have a clearer understanding of what facilities we need and where. And we certainly need to know the potential costs of providing a new facility in St Helier.
‘The next piece of work will look in more detail at where the facility can go and what the cost will be.’
