A lido in Bath thought to be the oldest in the UK will remain closed for the foreseeable future as work is carried out to repair flood damage. Cleveland Pools was forced to shut last year – despite only reopening in 2023 – after heavy rainfall caused ‘severe damage’ to parts of the site.
The boss of the charity behind the lido has now admitted he cannot put a timescale on when the lido will reopen.
“The trust shares the frustration of the public that the pools remain closed but wishes to reassure them that as a registered charity run and managed by volunteers, it continues to use its best endeavours to find a solution to allow the pools to be brought back into use as soon as is practically and viably possible,” said Paul Simons, chair of the Cleveland Pools Trust.
Mr Simons said ‘extensive investigations’ had been carried out since the closure of the pools last year and that works were still ongoing. He also thanked the public and local volunteers for their support for the project.
“The Cleveland Pools trustees regret the prolonged closure of the pools,” he said. “In the period since the flood extensive investigations have been conducted into the flooding incident, which caused serious damage to the pools’ operating plant and machinery in its plant room.
“There has also been some damage to the surrounding areas of the main pool and the focus of the ongoing technical investigations is on the nature and extent of damage to the pool structure itself and connecting pipework.”
It is understood the charity, along with the help of professional advisors, is looking at options for recovering the cost of fixing the damage to allow the pools to reopen.
“Unfortunately, at this present time, the trust is unable to put a timescale on this,” added Mr Simons.
The Grade-II listed lido opened as a river-fed pool in 1815 and was used for public swimming until its closure in 1984. The site was then used for a period as a trout farm before facing the threat of demolition in 2003.
However, thousands of local people campaigned to save the lido and a trust was set up to rescue it in 2004. Two years later the site was granted listed status and and work to restore the pools started in 2021. The project cost nearly £10m.