Inside UK metropolis’s deserted ‘Chernobyl’ used as pandemic morgue and main movie set
Haunting images reveal the interior of an ‘eyesore’ council sports facility that now lies derelict – despite being rescued from demolition and awarded listed status. Time seems to have frozen at The Richard Dunn Sports Centre as multiple water slides and swimming pools remain untouched since it shut its doors in 2019.
In 2024, residents in Bradford expressed their bewilderment after the concrete building received grade II listed status – with one declaring it resembled a nuclear catastrophe site more than anything else.
The Richard Dunn Sports Centre has since been spared from the wrecking ball after Historic England officials awarded it listed status, making it significantly more difficult to secure demolition approval.
The local landmark, situated across from Bradford Bulls’ Odsal Stadium, has sparked debate throughout the city for years, with the council having marked it for destruction following its 2019 closure. The heritage organisation commended the structure’s “bold and accomplished design for 1970s leisure”.
However, local resident Richard Whitaker remarked at the time: “It might have been bold and accomplished in the 1970s, but it’s not now. It’s just an eyesore. It looks like more like a nuclear disaster zone than a leisure centre. I just don’t know how they’ve granted it listed status to look at it, it’s an absolute eyesore.
“What are they going to do with it now if they don’t knock it down? It will just stand there and be an eyesore for years to come. The reason the council closed it was because it’s not fit for purpose.” Zeeshan Khan commented: “We’ve got lots of really nice old buildings in this city doing nothing.”
Martin Clarke suggested: “Pull it down and build something that is useful in its place. This is why places like Bradford can not move forward because people want to keep old things that are simply not fit for any purpose.”
Robert Lang remarked: “One of the ugliest buildings around Bradford. Unbelievable that it has been given Grade II listed status. Baffling decision.” Meanwhile, Jonny Pianko stated: “The listing is a disgrace. What an eyesore”.
However, some locals were more forgiving. Angie Petty said: “It’s iconic and a landmark that can be seen from miles.”
James Murray argued: “It’s a unique building with lots of history and is known to just about everybody who has ever lived in Bradford, stupid decision to demolish it. It should be turned into something and the grounds should be redone.”
Usman Bey expressed: “I’m actually so glad it’s become a grade listed building. It was so ahead of its time.” The leisure centre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was marked for demolition, which was only postponed due to the Covid pandemic.
With its massive domed roof held up by concrete arches, the vast structure was labelled an ‘eyesore’ by locals who compared it to a nuclear disaster zone. One likened it to “something they put over Chernobyl”, but heritage group Historic England described the building as a ‘bold and accomplished design for 1970s leisure’.
And they subsequently granted the building grade II listed status in 2022 to the astonishment of residents and the council, keeping the wrecking ball at bay.
Now, an urban explorer and photographer has ventured into the derelict building and documented his journey through the sports centre. Eerie photographs also reveal table tennis tables that have been left to decay while the reception area inside the leisure facility still has debris scattered across the floor.
The former sports hall where youngsters once enjoyed activities was also captured looking dilapidated and shrouded in dust.
Kyle Urbex said: “When I walked in, the nostalgia got me because you’ve got a place where many children enjoyed going there over the years. Now it’s all rotted away and it made it pretty eerie in a way. There was an area where you used to see kids screaming and running about there and now it’s just empty.”
He also revealed that he has ‘always wanted’ to explore a leisure centre and ‘couldn’t resist walking up’ the deserted slides. Kyle said: “I’m glad I got to go in because I’ve always wanted to do a leisure centre or something with loads of water slides.
“Once inside the pool area, the big kid in me took over and I couldn’t resist walking up the slides. It gave me the chance to walk up the slides and take in the moment really.”
The sports centre was constructed in 1974 and was subsequently named after Richard Dunn, the Bradford-born boxer best known for fighting Muhammad Ali in 1976. Architect Trevor Skempton explained the structure was conceived to possess an ‘intentional theatrical aspect of the single open space, viewable from the access bridge, which enhanced the sporting experience’.
It shuttered in 2019 when the council launched a £17.5m leisure centre close by and had been utilised as an emergency morgue throughout the Covid pandemic, as well as being used during filming of iconic film 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
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