Lido brought back to life in exciting £1m leisure plans
OUTDOOR POOL COULD REOPEN UNDER RENOVATION PROPOSAL
PLANS to provide a new fitness suite at a west Hull leisure centre as part of a £1.1m renovation have been submitted.
Hull City Council wants to create the two-storey building as part of Albert Avenue Pools.
The extension will include a gym on the ground floor and studio space on the first floor, with a link corridor to the main building.
The new building is part of a wider scheme to revamp Albert Avenue Pools, which is set to see its outdoor lido reopen after 25 years.
However, despite the planning application, works are set to be delayed due to the Covid pandemic.
In a report going to a finance scrutiny this Friday on council building schemes hit by Covid, it says: “Demolition works are on hold during the Covid shutdown and concentration is on the Beverley Road Baths scheme.
“Re-engagement with the contractor is to commence with a start date to be agreed.”
The budget for the Albert Avenue scheme is £1.1m, which includes the lido, the fitness centre and other internal works.
Work is now under way to renovate Beverley Road Baths, which is due for completion later in the spring of this year.
The work involves repairs to the roof of the grade two listed building, a new sauna and changing rooms and improved gym facilities.
Once that is complete, the focus will turn to Albert Avenue Pools.
The plans include bringing back into use the outdoor lido which was last used for public swimming in the early 1990s.
Since then, it has only been used by members of the Kingston Kayak Club, which is based at the baths. But under new refurbishment plans, the lido will be upgraded to once again provide a place to swim outdoors.
When the work is completed, the outdoor pool will be available for swimmers from spring to summer.
The lido was built there in 1958. At the time, it was described as having “Mediterranean blue waters” for people to try out.
However, an open-air pool was recorded at the site as far back as 1908 when it was converted into a public bathing facility from the former Newington Water Works company.
A covered pools complex was built in Albert Avenue in 1933 but the outdoor pool was retained and subsequently converted into a lido.
Hull’s only other lido in East Park closed in 1988 after being used for 24 years.
The budget allocations are expected to be the council’s biggest spend on leisure since the refurbishment of Woodford Leisure Centre in Holderness Road, which was completed in 2017.