Eastwood Leisure to close for gym makeover

The gym at Barrhead has already closed to allow work to take place and will reopen on January 21, while Eastwood will close on January 24 and reopen on February 11.

The council facilities are being gutted to install new cardio machines from manufactuerer Pulse Fitness, flat screens with apps and TV access, resistance machines, free weights and training areas.

The facilities will also be painted, and new flooring will be installed.

Councillor Mary Montague, convener for community services and safety, promises “fantastic new additions to our centres, with top-of-the-line high tech equipment throughout.

“Customers will be amazed at the transformation and the facilities that we are able to offer.

“We fully appreciate that having their gyms closed for refurbishment is an inconvenience, but I’m confident they will love these amazing new gyms.”

The Barrhead gym is part of the Barrhead Foundry project, turning the Main Street sports centre into a community hub with a £3.8 million extension, and will cost £200,000 — the remaining £150,000 will be spent on Eastwood.

Eastwood’s revamp also follows the announcement that some of it equipment is to be donated to the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, the country teamed with East Ren in last year’s Commonwealth Games.

East Renfrewshire’s leisure facilities may soon be under the control of an arms-length trust — a plan included in the council’s budget savings proposal for 2015-18, which covers £17.6m of cuts to meet a £20m shortfall, and approved by councillors in December.

An ERC spokeswoman stated that the funding for both state-of-the-art gyms is from “a previous budget allocation”, and has no bearing on the budget for 2015-18.