First Six Months of Glasgow Club at Kelvin Hall
Glasgow Club Kelvin Hall's Sports Manager writes about preparing for opening and welcoming our new and old customers into the building.
Last week marked six months since we opened Glasgow Club at Kelvin Hall and, as clichéd as it sounds, it really has flown in.
We opened on Monday 22 August 2016 and I couldn’t believe my eyes when we unlocked the doors to see a queue of customers waiting in the wet, dark morning to get into our new venue. We were all so eager to open and it made me so proud to see the public were as excited as we were!
That first day went without a hitch. We welcomed more than 1000 customers to our gym, fitness classes, and sports halls. Now, every single person who comes through the doors for the first time has the exact same reaction of shock, amazement and appreciation, and I never get tired of seeing it!
However, getting here wasn’t easy. We worked on plans for years and, at times, it felt like we’d never get to the point of opening the building. There was so much to do! But we put our heads down and, piece by piece, our plans were realised. We had a few hitches along the way which made all of us question our sanity, but I’m lucky to work with a group of incredible people who never give up or lost heart and, as you can see, we got there in the end.
We hired 40 new members of staff to work in Kelvin Hall - people who’d never worked in another Glasgow Sport facility before. This presented a challenge as we had to train them up on all our different systems, but they took it in their stride and the result is a brilliant and motivated team. I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve received compliments on our Kelvin Hall staff. They’ve introduced so many people to our new facility and helped our customers build their own fitness programmes in our superb gym.
The first time I walked into our 1,000m2 gym filled with equipment I was completely gobsmacked. It was massive and bright, and all that new equipment was top-of-the-range, begging to be used. The space is so inviting and it’s no wonder it’s been busy ever since.
Throughout my time with Glasgow Sport (longer than I care to remember…) I’ve worked on some pretty special projects, but Kelvin Hall is by far the most amazing thing I’ve ever been part of.
Working here has made me realise just how much the Kelvin Hall meant to the people of Glasgow. Our main focus in reopening the sports facilities at Kelvin Hall was always to deliver a world-class venue – but it also quickly became just as important to create a space which Glaswegians would hold as dear to their hearts as they did the ‘old’ Kelvin Hall.
And it makes me feel like the proudest person in the world to say we’ve done just that.
Yvonne, Area Manager for Glasgow Sport
