WHAT’S being dubbed as North Ayrshire’s new culture, community and leisure centre is now at it’s final stages of development and will finally be open to the public this month.

After a long wait, residents will finally get the chance to enter the Portal to try out its new state-of-the-art facilities and equipment sometime in February.

Glebe Primary School and various KA Leisure fitness members were invited along last Friday to be the first to try out the new centre ahead of its long-awaited public opening.

The Irvine Time’s were also given a sneak peek at the town’s £20 million leisure centre.

The new facilities include a 25m x six lane swimming pool with spectator seating, teaching/warm up pool, changing facilities, a six court multi-use sports hall for all indoor sports, community facilities, a fitness suite and multi-use studio and cafe.

The restored Townhouse will also offer a new venue for civic events, exhibitions, artistsin-residence and wedding ceremonies.

Colin Glencorse, KA Leisure’s leisure business manager, says the final result looks fantastic.

He said: “I think the use of space and light is tremendous from the design team. It just gives that tremendous feeling to the site and it’s surprising just how much space there is in here.

“The quality of the fittings and finishings is actually brilliant.

“There’s lots of lovely wee garden spaces in here as well and it lets an awful lot of natural light into the area.

“The fact that it’s in the centre of the town makes it more accessible to a lot of people."

As well as sports, Colin is confident the venue will also be a great town centre venue for entertainment.

“The six-court sports hall is a flexible space so we can actually use it for a multitude of events as well”, he said.

“The ceiling in this area is a proper acoustic ceiling that’s been put in specifically for that reason, so we can have small concerts, Burns suppers in this area as well as the main use for sports activities.

“The Magnum has been iconic in its day but it is over 40 years old now and this centre in comparison is a bit more up to date and relevant to today’s needs so it is quite different.

“The Magnum when it was built was one of the biggest in Europe. This one’s a bit smaller than that but it’s more in tune with the needs of our customers.

Asked about comparisons with the Magnum, Colin said: “In terms of the site I think there’s no way the design team would have managed to fit flumes in.

“I think in terms of swimming trends as well its actually reversed a wee bit from having leisure pools and there is more demand for more traditional-type pools now.”

Councillor Louise McPhater said: “I think the design of the building is absolutely amazing and I’m really impressed with it.

“The only way I can describe it is like a Tardis, outside you do not believe what can be on the inside, you come inside and the space is absolutely amazing.”