THE company which holds the lease to the Oasis Leisure Centre has moved to reassure customers that the work to fully refurbish the iconic venue will go ahead, but later than planned.

While Moirai Investments Limited has is said it would have preferred the work to happen quicker, it confirmed refurbishments to the poolside area and the roof replacement will hopefully be completed by January 2015.

Work has been completed on the state-of-the-art gym along with improvements to enlarge the reception area.

In January 2013, an alteration with the lease was agreed with the council to have the works completed by the end of last year. However, a number of factors have meant this has not been possible.

The day-to-day running of the centre is carried out by Greenwich Leisure Limited who requested the work was put back to prevent any disruption during busy times of the year. November and December are the quieter trading periods and the deadline to begin the work in 2013 was missed so it has been postponed.

The discovery of asbestos held up some of the work along with the economic conditions, meaning securing funds took longer than initially hoped for, although they are now in place.

Chris Lewis of Moirai, who is the project manager, said: “All the work we initially planned will go ahead.

“We are looking to start the work after the autumn half term so the impact on business will be minimal, with the target of finishing by the end of January.

“To cause disruption during busy periods would benefit no-one.

“As it stands we are not planning to close the Oasis, although there is a possibility it may need to shut for a period of three weeks.

“The project at the Oasis has cost Moirai Capital in excess of £2m with a further £1m allocated to be spent for the roof and wet change.

“In a time of austerity we see this as a major commitment and a vote of confidence in Swindon as a place to invest.”

Moirai has also said they are in the process of putting together a formal application to build an indoor ski-slope as well as an arena, which they hope to submit at the end of summer.

Chris said: “Moirai Capital has also progressed with the outline planning application for the North Star development with a view to submitting the application later in 2014.

“We are engaged with national leisure operators for the ski slope, music arena and other ancillary sport users.

“We are currently working on the design to allow for contractual terms to be agreed with these operators prior to submission of our planning application.

“We and GLL would invite anyone wishing to see our commitment to Swindon to view the wonderful new facilities the town has available at the Oasis.”