A LEISURE centre which has been closed for more than year has been bought by a private investor.

Queen’s Park Leisure Centre in Bournemouth, which remains shut, is leased to BH Live, a charitable social enterprise which runs facilities in Bournemouth and Poole.

Property firm Goadsby acting on behalf of an unnamed investor has announced it successfully secured the acquisition of the Queen’s Park South Drive premises.

The site was previously occupied by Fitness First and it is currently let to BH Live for a term of 35 years from 2004 at a passing rent of £253,447 per annum.

James Edwards, Goadsby director, said: “The ongoing strategy for our client is to acquire mixed use investments in strong south England locations and this off-market opportunity compliments this strategy well.”

As reported, BCP Council was eying a move to buy the leisure centre in late 2021, however, it backed out of the plans.

The potential acquisition by the local authority came to light after it was listed an item to be discussed at council meetings.

It was due to be discussed by councillors in January 2022 but the previous month the council confirmed to the Daily Echo that the plan had been dropped.

Queen’s Park Leisure Centre has not been operational since at least summer 2021.

A notice on the BH Live Active website for Queen’s Park since at least November last year said the centre is temporarily closed, adding: “The planned reopening continues to be affected by ongoing industry and economic challenges. These include a significant increase in operating costs, including energy, utilities, and recruitment.

“At this time, customers are using facilities and accessing services at other BH Live Active centres as part of our multisite membership.

“Please use the facilities at alternative nearby centres including Littledown, Stokewood, Sir David English Sports Centre and Pelhams Park.”

BH Live did not provide any details on when the temporary closure will end when approached by the Daily Echo.