Bell’s Sports Centre to Return as ‘Unheated Covered Space’; Perth Asks Whether That Is Just Outside With a Lid

By our Leisure & Lids Correspondent

Perth was today given its clearest picture yet of the future of Bell’s Sports Centre, the North Inch landmark closed since the October 2023 flood, after it emerged that asbestos and Raac removal should be finished by May 2027 ahead of a £10m plan to turn the building into an unheated, covered events space.

“Unheated covered space,” said one North Inch dog walker, testing the phrase like a puddle. “So — Perth. But with a roof. We have been living in an unheated covered space since 1974. It’s called a bus shelter.”

Sports enthusiasts welcomed the news that the dome would survive, pointing out that the building’s famous roof remains one of the few things in the city that has never once been coned off. A badminton player from Letham said she was “delighted” and would simply “serve faster, to stay warm”.

Event organisers have already begun pencilling in uses. Suggestions sent to the Perthetic include an indoor-outdoor Hogmanay, a flask fair, the Scottish Unheated Five-a-Side Championships, and a “Feel the Inch” winter wellness retreat at which participants pay £40 to stand still in a fleece.

The Perthetic understands that the word “unheated” was chosen over the alternatives “bracing”, “character-building” and “very Scottish” after a lengthy process. A sign reading “PLEASE CLOSE THE FLOODGATE BEHIND YOU” is said to be top of the snagging list.

Asked whether May 2027 was realistic, a passing pensioner said: “It’s 19 months. That’s a phase two in A93 terms. I’ll bring a flask.”

The real story: Bell's Sports Centre plans (The Courier)