Fort showers could be up and running this summer

Thursday 11 April 2019

Shower facilities, which were closed off following the discovery of dangerous bacteria at Fort Regent, could be back up and running by summer.

Fort officials have said that they expect the areas that had been closed off to reopen by July.

The shower facilities were closed off after legionella - a dangerous bacteria, which can cause serious health issues, which tends to develop in standing water - was discovered in the Fort's water supply.

Pictured: Areas of the Fort were closed due to the presence of asbestos last year.

This followed a period of closure across the body-building zone, a number of gym changing rooms and toilets and other non-public rooms, due to the presence – or potential presence – of asbestos.

According to Deputy Kevin Lewis, the Infrastructure Minister with responsibility for Jersey Property Holdings, which manages the Fort building, explained in December that there were difficulties in flushing the bacteria out due to the existing pipework being in such "poor condition" that it couldn't take being chlorinated.

Months later, amid questioning from gym-goers over when certain areas would reopen, Fort officials have now provided an update.

They confirmed that they were expecting the "confirmed project timeline for reinstating the showers, toilets and sauna and steam rooms" in the next few days from their landlords Jersey Property Holdings.

They added that the facilities could be re-opened this July.

Pictured: A number of large-scale events scheduled at the Fort have had to be cancelled.

The news comes at a difficult time for the Fort, with numerous islanders blasting the condition of the facilities. One gym-goer complained about the state of the existing showers, which are said to be prone to flooding, on social media. The post garnered dozens of similarly disappointed responses.

Further complicating matters, a fire safety review last month saw Rumble on the Rock have to be cancelled at the last minute after officials concluded there should be no more than 1,170 people inside at any one time due to inadequate lighting and emergency escape routes.

Other events have had to be postponed or moved to a different venue, including drum and bass party Blkout and The Human League concert.

A Fort spokesperson has moved to reassure islanders that the team continues to work with their landlord "to ensure the building is safe for operations and our day to day activities continue".

"Work is being conducted on the Fort's emergency lighting," they added. "A team are on site installing upgrades to the emergency lighting solutions and are progressing well in this task. We are also carrying out reviews of the electrical installations in all of our open areas to ensure we continue to operate safely," they said.

Pictured: A gym-goer complaining about the open showers on social media.

Meanwhile, a Planning Application assessing the demolition of the former swimming pool area remains under review. A decision is expected within the coming weeks. If it passes, the block could finally be removed from the St. Helier landscape in summer.