Leisurezone will provide stunning new sports and leisure facilities in the heart of Harlow, offering the perfect location for everyone from UK elite athletes to families and individuals who simply want to keep fit. The building can be seen taking shape on the Velizy Avenue site and the clock is well and truly counting down to the centre's grand opening next autumn.

Leisurezone is just one of the elements of the Harlow Gateway Project, which is regenerating Harlow and providing much needed new homes and sports and leisure facilities for people in the town.

A spokesperson for the Harlow Gateway project, said: "Harlow's new Leisurezone is going to be something special. People can see how the facility is taking shape and, every day, we take another significant stride closer to completion. The fact that we have passed the half-way mark and can now really start counting down the weeks and months until we open next autumn is tremendous. Very soon, we are going to have one of the best sports and leisure facilities in the UK right here in the heart of Harlow."

The £25 million state-of-the-art centre will provide local people with a top quality sports and leisure centre on their doorstep. Among the impressive range of facilities on offer will be new sports halls, swimming pools, a gym and a conference venue with the capacity to host ‘big ticket events'. From tennis, badminton and volleyball to aerobics, squash and basketball, the Leisurezone really will have it all.

As an official training venue for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, Leisurezone will also provide an even stronger link between Harlow and the London Games.

Leisurezone will include a members' bar/lounge, nursery and one-stop health shop. It will also be home to ‘Science Alive', a hands-on science and technology learning centre for children and adults.

To celebrate ‘passing half-way' and the final countdown to its autumn 2009 opening, members of the Harlow Gateway Partnership, the team behind the Gateway Project, visited the site to see the impressive progress being made. Hosted by Leadbitter, the main contractor, the visit provided the Partnership Board with an exciting opportunity to see the facilities taking shape and how, in autumn 2009, Harlow will have an outstanding new sports and leisure centre.