Abandoned sports centre 'should become skate park'

The Richard Dunn Sports Centre closed to the public in 2019

An abandoned sports centre could become an indoor skate park under plans drawn up by a society dedicated to the preservation of postwar buildings

The Richard Dunn Sports Centre in Bradford has stood empty since it was closed five years ago.

Now, the 20th Century Society (C20) has told Bradford Council the site has potential to become an "Olympic standard" skateboarding facility.

Its members suggested the redundant council-owned building could also be used for BMX, scooter, parkour and bouldering activities.

Constructed in 1974, the building was named after the Bradford-born boxer best known for fighting Muhammad Ali in 1976.

Its closure in 2019 coincided with the opening of the nearby £17.5m Sedbergh Leisure Centre complex.

The C20 has long taken an interest in building and successfully campaigned to have the centre listed in 2022, saving it from demolition.

Although the site has been earmarked for a park and ride, no major plans for reuse have been made public, and it is currently being used as a filming location for a sequel in the 28 Days Later zombie film franchise.

'Real buzz'

The C20 plans suggest the centre could become home to the UK's first Olympic-level skate arena, including street and park-style courses "housed under the iconic ‘big top’ of the former Richard Dunn Sports Centre [and] rebranded as ‘The Dunn’".

The "radical vision" would include a a "unique indoor/outdoor skating arena" alongside climbing walls, a café and studio suites, it said.

Catherine Croft, the society's director, said: “With City of Culture 2025 on the horizon, there’s a real buzz around Bradford at the moment.

“Our proposals for The Dunn show how, with imagination and vision, extraordinary listed buildings like this can be radically yet respectfully reinvented."

Neil Ellis, from Skateboard GB, said: “The Richard Dunn Centre proposal is very exciting and would have a huge benefit to British skateboarders looking to aim to compete on an international level, as well as providing an amazing facility for people in the local community.”

However, some questioned where funding for a conversion of the building would come from.

Si Cunningham, chair of Bradford Civic Society, said while "imaginative" it was not clear "how such an ambitious scheme could be funded in the current climate".

“I think a national skate facility being based in Bradford makes a lot of sense and is an excellent idea, and indeed if it were in the local authority’s gift to do it at Richard Dunn it could be an awesome scheme," he said.

“Unfortunately I fear there may be a struggle to make this site financially viable in its current state, and it may be that alternative plans linked to local transport needs are already very well advanced."

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