Bolton Council leisure services department and Bolton college chiefs have met to update themselves on the latest development in the £2 million Bolton Excel complex being built at Bolton College.

The Centre for Excellence for Leisure and Learning is the result of a partnership between Bolton College, Bolton Council leisure services and the Further Education Funding Council.

Bolton Excel, set to open in the New Year, will include a major exhibition hall, cafe, sports hall, hairdressing and beauty therapy salon, full theatre facilities and a learning centre, where students can 'drop in' to use a wide variety of learning materials and computerware.

The council and the college have both promised that the prestigious development will provide top quality leisure and learning for students and the public, as well as on-the-job experience for students on a wide range of courses.

It fills the need for a town centre leisure and exhibition complex created by the closure of the Silverwell Street Sports Centre last year.

Councillors, Bolton College governors and leisure services chiefs inspected the final designs and were shown around the site by Excel centre manager Rob Garner and Martin Taylor, the college's estates manager.

Cllr Cliff Morris, chairman of the Excel joint management board, said: "I am delighted at the progress being made in this exciting new joint venture. Our dream of providing a unique facility for our students and the people of Bolton is becoming more of a reality every day."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.