On this exact day five years ago today, the Oasis Leisure Centre sadly closed its doors, after GLL surrendered its lease to Seven Capital. Five years on, and still no light at the end of the tunnel to re-open the iconic leisure facility, five years without the wave machine, the smell of chlorine, and of course the thrill of the Dome Busters. And don’t forget, the Oasis was host to the biggest concerts in town in the leisure centres multi-use sports hall that still today is the largest sports hall in Wiltshire.
The campaign group Save Oasis Swindon responsible for getting the iconic dome protected as a Grade II Listed building said in a public Media Statement today on their Facebook page said: “The Oasis Leisure Centre is a Swindon Institution and it should never have been allowed to close down, let alone for five years. How many more years do we have to wait?”.
Five years on, still sat dormant, the iconic leisure centre opened its doors on 1st January 1976, and sadly closed its doors on 18th November 2020 after leisure operator GLL handed back the keys, stating the facility was financially unviable.
The very multi-use nature of the facility was how it stood the test of time, offering not only, a tropical lagoon under the dome, but multiple sports to take part in, the largest concerts in town and sporting events such as boxing and Roller Derby. But after the now Labour Council Leadership made it very clear from the beginning of their taking charge of Swindon Borough Council, that they wanted to pull down the sports hall stating without proof that the sports hall was not viable, the re-opening of the iconic facility has hit brick wall after brick wall, delay after delay, disappointment after disappointment.
With the facility in need of serious upgrades, and the event of COVID and nearly two years of lockdowns, GLL who had been running the leisure facility since 2013 were forced to hand in the keys and close the centre in 2020. The responsibility was handed back to leaseholders Seven Capital.
More recently, plans for the 700 high-rise flats that would have engulfed the iconic dome were voted against, leaving the centre to continue to fall into a state of disrepair, with no end in sight of a plan that will see the centre re-opened.
Plans for the centre have also met with questionable reasoning from the council who want the most viable part of the centre pulled down and add a bowling alley and crazy golf course. Swindon has had a few businesses over the past few years set up crazy golf facilities that have fallen flat and gone out of business, and with Swindon now home to not just one, but two state of the art Bowling facilities, having another bowling alley, just adds to concerns by industry experts that current plans would see the re-opening of the Oasis fail.
Since the rejection of plans surrounding the iconic dome, there has been no further update and almost total radio silence from both Swindon Borough Council and Seven Capital, and no change of the centre opening its doors any time in 2026.
The Campaign Group Save Oasis Swindon have one more attempt to list the Oasis as an Asset of Community Value after the most recent attempt failed.
On 1st January 2026, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Oasis opening its doors for the very first time, the Save Oasis Swindon campaign group are crowdfunding to launch fireworks 400ft over the dome, to support the campaign and the 50th Anniversary plans, you can click HERE to donate.
Entertainment Swindon 
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