Leisure centre

A leisure centre, sports centre, recreation center, or aquatics centre is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and provided by the local government authority, where people can engage in a variety of sports and exercise, and keep fit.^[1]

Typical facilities

Facilities typically include a swimming pool, a large sports hall, and a gym, and may include: aerobics studios, an indoor cycling studio, squash courts, a cafeteria, a licensed bar, outdoor grass and/or artificial pitches for football (soccer), hockey etc., a solarium, sauna and/or steam room. Some of its functions may overlap with that of a community centre.

Leisure centres are staffed by attendants who carry out a range of tasks to help and supervise the people using the leisure centre's facilities, and act as swimming pool lifeguards, gym instructors and coaches, offering advice, motivation, and expertise to users. Leisure centres are often operated by private companies on contract to the local authority.

Some leisure centres, particularly in Australia, are called aquatic centres, if their main facilities are pools for swimming, diving, and other aquatic sports.