Aura Letterkenny Completes Refurbishment Works at Leisure Centre Including Brand New Gym
Donegal County Councillors at Aura Leisure Letterkenny Left to Right: John McCarron, Frances Friel, Ciaran Brogan, Áine Temple, Tom Crossan and Jimmy Kavanagh
Aura Leisure Letterkenny and Donegal County Council are delighted to confirm the refurbishment works have been completed at the leisure centre and involve a new layout plan which allows for optimum social distancing. Donegal County Councillors (pictured above) attended the leisure centre this morning to see the major upgrade to areas including the gym, studio, changing village and reception area which will improve the long-term viability of the facility which first opened its doors in 2007.
The opportunity to upgrade and refurbish the gym works were carried out following a burst pipe that caused irreversible damage to the parts of the centre back in February, which occurred the night before the International Tug of War Championships taking place in the Aura Arena. Luckily the area where the event was taking place was not affected and was able to go ahead thanks to the incredible staff at the centre. In the recent event evaluation completed by the representatives from the countries who attended, the event received the highest score in the history of the competition to date scoring particularly high in the ‘competition area’ and ‘facilities for spectators’.
Following the closure of the leisure centre on March 16th due to the covid-19 lockdown, the refurbishment works were put on hold. Aura was delighted to welcome back their staff and members when they re-opened their doors on July 6th with new health and safety protocols including social distancing guidelines, personal protective equipment for staff, intensified sanitisation and cleaning practises and increased ventilation system with 10 air folds per hour. The refurbishment works were completed on Friday and involve a new layout plan which allows for optimum social distancing.
Ciaran Brogan from Letterkenny County Council said, ‘’We are delighted to see the works that have been carried in the Aura Letterkenny Leisure Centre to a very high standard and it gives us all huge confidence into the long term viability of the facility. The management and staff at Aura Letterkenny have been fantastic and have worked very hard over last number of weeks to ensure the works were carried out very professionally and in short amount of time. In Donegal, health, fitness and sports are a big part of what we are and so and if there was ever a time that the community needs this boost it’s mow more than ever. It’s fantastic to have a leisure centre like Aura to provide for the health and wellbeing of the community.’’
The new gym layout in particular has been designed to focus on space to allow for social distancing, ease of use and giving customers a comfortable flow to their workouts. Customers experience will be brightened with fresh colour pallets, feature mirrors, fit for purpose flooring and inspiring decal artwork positioned around the gym. The Strength area which includes squat racks, weights, machines and benches is spacious and well equipped with mirrors and lighting, along with high grade flooring. The Cardio area has been designed to give you a great view of the gym as you face down towards the strength area and take in the fresh design elements. The new Functional area, vitalises the middle of gym with astro turf flooring which allows for grip and comfort and will have additional space meaning you can use all the functional training equipment available to have a great functional workout or post training stretch. The gym also features hi-tech scientific equipment including ‘In-Body’, that goes beyond traditional body composition analysis measuring fat, muscle and total body water. The new studio also allows for increased class capacity, yet still allows for plenty of distancing.
Aine Temple, Operations Manager of the centre said, ‘’We are so happy to have the works completed and are really delighted with the result. I would like to give a huge thank you to John McCarron from Donegal County Council, Padraig Byrne who is Auras Property Director, and our contractors who were so professional including Liam McHugh, Mark Cassidy and Daryl. I would also like to thank my own team in Aura Letterkenny, they have all been fantastic and I’m forever grateful for their dedication and their ability to adapt to whatever situation they are presented with. Thank you to our members and the public for being so patient with us while the works were happening. It’s very exciting to be able to welcome everyone back’’.
6th September 2007 – the first time Aura opened its doors to their first customers!
More than ever, we are determined to drive our mission of ‘A Healthier and Happier Ireland’ and it appears that our longstanding company values have never been more relevant e.g. ‘We Are All In This Together’. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners in Donegal County Council and all of our customers for their continued support.
