Two of King Alfred’s three boilers have been fixed and the pools are now being reheated so the centre can reopen at Easter.
The Hove leisure centre closed in January after the 40-year-old boilers’ control panel packed up. The centre hasn’t reopened since.
Brighton and Hove City Council today announced repair work is progressing well and it is on course to open by Easter.
And it said it’s refurbished the ballroom dance floor and decorated other areas during the closure.
It said: “Major repair work at the King Alfred Leisure Centre is progressing well with two of the three boilers now up and running and providing hot water to most of the building, including the sinks and showers.
“A new control panel has been fitted, re-wiring completed and the process of reheating the swimming pools has begun.
“However, this has to be done slowly so it will be several weeks before the water reaches the correct temperature for swimming.
“While the building has been closed, we are pleased to have carried out further improvements around the centre which include decorating several areas and refurbishing the ballroom dance floor.
“We are still aiming to re-open the centre in time for Easter.”
The closure has prompted renewed calls for the ageing centre to be replaced, following the collapse of two redevelopment schemes in the last 20 years.
In January, the council asked landowners with potential sites for a new centre in the west of the city to come forward.
The options for a new centre are keeping it on the same site, building on council-owned land elsewhere, or buying land. All three would involve developing all or part of the current King Alfred site.
Any site would have to have parking and be accessible by public transport.
The council’s sports facilities investment plan, published in 2021, includes developing three large leisure hubs in the north, east and west of the city by 2031.
If King Alfred’s boilers are fixed does that mean he might burn the cakes again?