The Wirral taxpayer. I worked there in the 80's and the sub-structure is rotten. the whole of the poolside is held up with acro's and the basement tunnels are full of asbestos lagged pipes. £3 million sounds cheap to me.
It will probably sit empty until the money runs out. I last went there about 10 years ago to play five-a-side and it was a little bit run down then. I wouldn't mind if they razed it, but not for 'luxury apartments' to go in it's place.
The council is looking at de-listing Byrne Avenue Bath's grade II listed status so they can demolish it and sell the land.
Frank Field is supporting this viewpoint, I thought he had more respect for our heritage and I also thought he would understand that increasing population density is not a good thing.
We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn
Speaking as someone who knows every square inch of the place, please don't get too romantic about it. Firstly,the place is structurally unsound, the pool surrounds are only kept from collapsing thanks to a forest of Acros. Secondly, it is a rat, cockroach and asbestos ridden shithole, the sooner it's flattened the better. Much better to build houses for folks than pander to some Quixotic dreams.
Yes, replace it with some trashy new build which is lucky to last 50 years and become just another part of the anonymous housing jungle.
The structure of the building isn't that bad although it is accepted the pools are not viable to be restored.
I see medical centres, community centres and all sorts being built at silly costs, surely a building like this could be re-used, knocking it down is a complete and utter waste.
There is loads of housing land that has already been cleared, we don't need more sites that are going to be left empty for years on end.
We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn
I wonder what state the flooring over the pool is like. I would have liked to have seen how it was setup. If it is still ok and could also be done for the other pool they could be used still for a variety of activities kids football & training sessions 5 a side adult football Basketball Netball table tennis roller skating keep fit classes
Self defence and martial arts in the other room
The locals wouldn't have to pay for bus or train fares to get there as they'd have to if going elsewhere
If pulled down and either left as brownfield site or house or flats built there who benefits the most - the builders and as many as say 50 families or As we are constantly being told by the Gov and NHS that we are becoming a nation of overweight people and we need to do more exercise so as to not overburden NHS resources. Surely if it could be re-used as a sports centre it could have the potential to affect the lives of 100's if not 1000's
Plus it is a grade 2 listed building and been a fond part of many folks lives
i went to byrne ave as a council worker to remove the remaining sporting equipment to be dispersed to the remaining sports centres and the placed was in my view irretrievable.the best option in my view(as i worked there for 10 years)is for it to be razed to the ground and a health centre built in its place.
Firstly, Lud is right. Despite many years of sweat and toil on his watch (hehe) and the skill and intervention of others (2 x hehe) on an annual and an ad-hoc basis ,the old girl has been failed by neglect and old age and should be put out of her misery. Bessie the (only) boiler passed her intensive insurance survey (weld x-ray etc) by the skin of her teeth in the early 90’s and has been relieved of her water gauges etc in the last pics I saw. Significant investment would be needed alone on heating the building, even if used just as a non-swimming venue and irrespective of the removal of Blue Asbestos lagged pipes to install new pipework. So whilst we should mourn the passing of a very well used ~80 year old public building, I shake my head in disbelief as a very well used ~20 year old public building (Europa Pools) has been earmarked to close to make way for a new ‘piazza’ for people to sip coffee on as if it’s St Mark’s Square and a new pool built nearby? Funded probably directly or indirectly through Taxes/EU? This town has(short sighted) long term planning issues…………Asda’s Car Park anyone? A temporary structure if ever there was one. There is one similar outside my Work’s main gate for temp parking during construction work…….disgraceful………I rest my case!
