Lido in push for final £400k
Work to restore the UK’S biggest lido is continuing with a “big push” to make up the remaining £400,000 of funding needed to finish it.
Recent focus has been filling the main pool at Cleveland Pools in Bath with clean stone and the installation of filtration pipework which means that contractors can now start work on the base slab for both pools.
Swimmers are expected to return next summer, when the outdoor swimming pool opens fully for the first time since 1984.
Anchor piles have now been installed in the walls of the children’s pool, making way for excavation to begin beneath them, with the new basement plant room next on the agenda.
A time-lapse video shows the construction work at the site, which began in May and is expected to cost £6.2m.
The overall project costs for the period 2019 to 2025 are now just over the £8m mark, with the trust needing to raise a further £400,000 over the next few months to deliver the rest of the work.
Bristol-based Beard is leading the work on the UK’S oldest surviving outdoor swimming pool, which was built in 1815 and is now regarded as a nationally significant site.
There is a “formidable” £400,000 still to raise between now and next summer with a dedicated fundraising team making a “big push”.
Jenny-anne Dexter, fundraising trustee, said: “Exciting times in the fundraising working group, as we make the big push towards achieving our final financial target needed to open the pools next summer as scheduled.
“A small yet dedicated team are working on a crowdfunding project, merchandising and engaging with local businesses as well as getting involved in some key events around the local area this summer to raise awareness and needed funds.”
An exhibition – “Making a Splash! 200 years of the Cleveland Pools, Swimming History and Costume Design” – will be held at the Holburne Museum from August 24 to September 5.
It will explore the social history of swimming through changes in costume design and textile technology.
Still to do on site is the refurbishment of the largely unaltered Grade Ii*-listed building with the central cottage to be upgraded to be used as a main entrance and pay point, with the first floor to become a caretaker’s flat.
The project was set to start in March last year, but the coronavirus pandemic struck and led to delays and increased costs.
If you wish to donate to the project go to: https://localgiving.org/donation/clevelandpoolstrust?emb=2GRVLPT4NK