Future of Queens Hotel spa and pool is in doubt

visiting the leisure centre is the highlight of his day.

He told the PA:“I have not had a letter about it yet, but I understand it is closing in January.

“It is too expensive to refurbish apparently.

“The steam room overheats and it is badly managed, and we don’t know anything about it.

“I joined 10 years ago and I go swimming three days a week, and I am going to miss all of that.

“I would go and read my paper and then go for a morning swim.

“It was social as well as keeping me fit, you met a lot of friends doing that.

“I can’t walk very far because I have bad knees, but in the water it is super, I have no pain.

“That hour in the morning really makes my day, it really does.”

Mr Armstrong is now looking at where else he can go for his morning swims, and is looking at potentially having to travel to Dundee or Kinross.

He continued:“I don’t really want to go to Perth Leisure Pool, it gets very busy there.

“There is the Swallow Hotel in Dundee, but that is 17 miles away and then there is one in

Kinross, so I will go and see what that is like.”

Donata Kick from Perth had been looking to start a membership for the Queens Hotel, when she heard about the closure.

She said:“I was about to take out a membership there when I found out it was shutting.

“My friend has a membership there and she has five children under the age of nine who were coming back from their swimming lessons when they were told.

“They are in bits because she has been there for decades.

“The pool there is clean, affordable and popular, and it is much better than the current state of Perth Leisure Pool.

“It is absolutely shocking news, I know this will affect quite a lot of people in Perth.

“This is a very bad business decision.”

Richard Ellison from the leisure centre’s management company said they cannot guarantee the pool will reopen, but added“never say never”.

He said:“We have informed the members of the leisure club the pool will be closing on January 1 for essential maintenance.

“We will look at the viability of continuing to open the pool, so currently it will be closing temporarily, but it is unknown whether the pool will reopen at this stage.

“The gym will remain open and there will be no redundancies.

“We are getting quotes together for the essential maintenance and looking at the feasibility of the space.

“We know it is disappointing the pool will not be available, and we are amending membership costs because of this.

“It is uncertain whether the wet facilities will reopen, but never say never.”