COLIN CAMPBELL: Bowling fun cannot compare to vital role of the gym
During Covid three years ago the bleakest sight of all for me wasn’t the empty streets, the closed shops or the eerie desolation of the city centre. It was the empty shell of the Inverness leisure centre, a building which normally pulsates with energy from dawn to dusk and beyond, but which then stood as a lifeless symbol of the dark days we were going through.
When it reopened I was back on the first day, jubilant it was back in action and that whatever lay ahead a mainstay of life had returned to normality.
Some people scoff at gyms and facilities like Inverness Leisure, believing they attract only fitness freaks and those with a weird aspiration to stay forever young. But the leisure centre attracts thousands of all ages, literally from eight to 80, to engage in a wide range of activities, from the hyper-energetic to those seeking careful, cautious improvement in their fitness and body movement.
It is a massively important facility, integral to the lives of many. I’m retired now and my almost daily trips do a lot for me, in a physical and also a psychological sense. I’ve never once entered the place in the last 15 years without feeling more relaxed, and yet also more energetic and upbeat, as I leave.
So I sympathise and empathise hugely with people on the other side of the city who are disappointed, shocked and even devastated by plans to close the Everlast gym and swimming pool at the Inverness Shopping Park – a superb facility with more than 2000 members – and replace it with a bowling alley and a few add-ons. Hercules Unit Trust, which owns the precinct, is seeking to set this up inside the building that currently houses Sports Direct and Everlast.
A bowling alley can be a fun venue. I’ve been to Rollerbowl. You can have a very good time there. But it’s been a social event, involving a meet and greet outing, which could happen almost anywhere. Having a go with gusto at tenpin bowling, as most people do on a day or night out, doesn’t even begin to compare with the focus, intent and determination which most people apply in a leisure venue gym and pool.
The Courier has highlighted the depth of feeling among those who are dependent on Everlast and are stricken over plans to axe it, particularly older people.
It’s been nothing less than a lifeline for them. They do classes, they socialise, they meet friends, and the importance of the facility for their health and mental wellbeing cannot be overestimated. Take that away and you rob them of a vital part of their lives. I know. It would have the same effect on me.
I’ve always said that Inverness Leisure is second only to Raigmore as the most important health and wellbeing facility in the city. It keeps people fit, it’s a counter to the rampant obesity crisis, and it makes people who are feeling low and feeling down feel good about themselves again.
Everlast fulfils the same role on the other side of the city, and has done for many years. Highland councillors will have the final say on this. Let’s hope they are listening to the heartfelt views of those folk, particularly the elderly, who insist it is a lifeline and even a potential lifesaver for them.
It would be an absolute travesty to replace a hugely important fitness and wellbeing centre with a bowls and skittles sideshow.
