Turkish delight with £4.5m baths plan
MANCHESTER’S historic Victoria Baths have unveiled plans to restore its Turkish Baths to their former glory.
Bosses are preparing to submit a bid for £4.5m of funding, the M.E.N. can reveal. It comes after plans were revealed for a £250m water park and tropical spa complex near the Trafford Centre
But The Victoria Baths Trust says it is confident the iconic Grade IIlisted attraction, in Chorlton-on-Medlock, will more than hold its own. Victoria Baths head of project development, Gill Wright, said: “We are totally unconcerned by it. The private sector are prepared to put so much in, it shows it’s a growing market. What we are offering is very different. It’s a heritage offer.”
A bid for £4.5m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to refurbish its Turkish Baths is now being put together. In a statement the trust said: “We believe there is a strong and growing interest in spa facilities, as the proposed new development at Trafford signifies.
“This gives the trust great confidence in their plans to restore and re-open the Turkish Baths at Victoria Baths, and we are excited by the diverse and vibrant choice of experiences this could collectively result in.” The specialist nature of the work, as well as the legal complexities surrounding conducting work on a Grade II-listed building, mean it’s likely to be several years before the Turkish Baths open again.
Opened in 1906, Victoria Baths was described as a ‘water palace’ housing three swimming pools and the Turkish Baths suite, which contained a steam room, a rest room, three hot rooms of varying temperatures, a shampooing room, and a shower room.
After 87 years, Victoria Baths closed its doors in 1993. But after winning BBC series Restoration, the baths have since played host to celebrities using the venue as a film location.