On Monday one of the works that has taken the longest in time in Santa Cruz will begin and also one of those with the highest investment, with a budget close to 20 million euros. Since 2018, a file has been underway that, after numerous administrative procedures, appeals and courts involved, was finally unblocked in 2021. Since then, work has been carried out on the project that will provide the capital with a new Sports Complexwhich should be ready in 14 months, by the company Go fit, which will convert the space that now exists next to the Heliodoro Rodríguez López into the big sports block of Santa Cruz, with more than 25,000 square meters.
Yesterday, the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, together with the councilors of Works and Sports, Dámaso Arteaga and Alicia Cebrián, and the representative of Go fit, Alfonso Arroyo, presented a project that aims to serve 10,000 people; it will create about 80 jobs; It will free up 290 parking spaces, thanks to the underground parking facilities, and will allow residents to go every day to practice any of the activities offered at the sports facilities for 35 euros, according to the company.
This project also involves the demolition of the half-finished construction on Eduardo Zamacois street and the Paco Álvarez Pavilion, which will be rebuilt. In addition, there will be a new swimming pool, which will replace the current one, with a multipurpose pool and another of a therapeutic nature.
Regarding the exteriors of this sports complex, a public square will be built that will connect Heliodoro Rodríguez López and La Mutine streets, which will serve as a prelude to the building. In addition, there will be an area for racket sports (tennis and paddle tennis) which is located in the southwest corner, delimited by a fence, and houses two glass paddle tennis courts and two approved tennis courts.
As the mayor advanced, the reconsideration act was signed yesterday, and from Monday the space in which the work will be carried out will begin to be fenced off and that, “except for specific moments”, will not mean cutting any of the streets.
Dámaso Arteaga pointed out that “we have a term of 14 months and the project is divided into two. On the one hand, there is the sports center itself, and, on the other, the pool and outdoor areas. He also valued the almost 300 parking spaces for users of the complex that will free up space in the surrounding streets. “The building will have a playroom, cafeteria and a room for directed activities on the entrance floor. On the next floor there will be a multipurpose room and a fitness room, to which must be added the aquatic area in which the pool will be located”, explained the mayor of works.
The Councilor for Sports highlighted the qualitative leap that sports practice will have in Santa Cruz with this new sports complex. “It is a modern, sustainable project that reaches the entire sports complex, both the federated and the non-federated part, which is 80% of the users, and that brings the practice of physical activity into the 21st century,” he said. she.
Cebrián also made reference to the Municipal Tennis School that has been opened in Tío Pino, which is also part of the offer made by Go fit and which is already working. “The reception is being very good and in these months, dozens of children, and also their parents, have come to practice a sport that is not so popular in the neighborhoods,” added the mayor.
Bermúdez thanked Go fit for the commitment to Santa Cruz, with a project about which he said that “I don’t think there are many public or private works with an amount like this one. In this 2023, without a doubt, it is the one with the greatest investment that the city will have ”. The mayor recalled that the users of the pool have been relocated to the Acidalio Lorenzo, while the federated teams that train at the Paco Álvarez have also been provided with training courts in the city’s schools.
“public facility”
From Go fit, the company’s deputy to the presidency, Alfonso Arroyo, also wanted to thank the City Council for their involvement in starting the work next Monday. “The first thing I want to say is that this is a public facility, which we opened, but with what the City Council tells us.” He added that “we have worked together with the City Council to design this project and shorten the start time of the work as much as possible after so much delay.”
Arroyo concluded by defending that his company works to make people happier through sports practice; “For this, we have good professionals and quality services. We are backed by more than 225,000 users throughout Spain, distributed among twenty centers”.
As for the prices, the representative of Go fit advanced that these are at 35 euros per person, “that you can go every day and do whatever you want.” “If we talk about a family of two people with two children under 16 years of age, the average is around 60 euros.” He also pointed out that since it will take 14 months to get the center up and running, that is when prices will be defined. In addition, “we offer more services such as the preparation of sports events or we facilitate conciliation in summer through sports practice”.
