Renovations are underway on the Renaissance baths located in Birmingham.
Moseley Road Baths, in the heart of Balsall Heath, originally opened in 1907 and they are still open today.
They first opened as a communal swimming pool and washing baths, which were both still in use until October 2004, with the first pool closing in 2003.
The Baths are the oldest of only three bathing complexes in Britain and are still in operation today.
Graham, age 63 was an avid user of the pool as a child, it was the pool he was taught to swim in.
“I taught my children to swim in this pool, my children taught their children to swim in the pool that is still open here. I would hope that this space can be for them what it was and still is for me, somewhere that people can come to relax, have quality family time and make memories like mine, that have lasted a lifetime.”
When the Gala pool closed in 2003, to prevent any more closure, the Moseley Road Baths Actions Group and CIO, including the ‘Friends of Moseley Road Baths’ took over running the baths from the 1st of April 2018.
The Friends of Moseley Road Baths advocated to keep the space open and have been hosting activities and events in the space since 2006 and have been working since 2016 to secure a future for the room.
The group has now formed a Charitable Incorporated Organisation which plans to take over running the pool as a non-profit community enterprise. They are also working with heritage partners The National Trust, World Monuments Fund and Historic England, along with Birmingham City Council to secure the long term future for the building.
The renovations currently taking place are focused on the Gala Pool roof, which started in January this year.
The work on the Gala pool is hoped to bring the community that once used this space back together and provide a safe, local space for all the people of Balsall to enjoy.
Libby Watts, an architect at Donald Insall Associates is currently working on these important renovations.
With the building being such a historical landmark in the area, Libby wants to make sure that the most important parts of its history are being preserved.
“1907 was the arts and crafts movement, just past Edwardian times. For us, its about craftsmanship, this building and the contractors who have worked on it, are all very highly skilled and trained, the stain glass has been done by a specialist who has been trained for years to learn how to do stain glass.
The bointing is all lime, all done by and external specialist.”
To get the pool up and running, Libby says that first and foremost, space itself needs to be safe to be in.
“The most important point is the structural repairs, this space was deemed dangerous to enter, so structurally we have repaired the steel and timbers in the roof allowing it to be watertight, and structurally sound and stable.”
With £700 thousand already being spent on the refurbishments so far, and 50 weeks spent working on the interior, Libby is hoping this build will help the community both financially and physically.
“This building is about health and wellbeing, we have got one pool that had remained open but unfortunately, the amount of money you can gain from that isn’t enough, so by doing these repairs and having the rest of the building to back that up, hopefully, you can retain swimming for the community, but also have a building that can pay for itself without relying on the need for council funding.”
The Gala Pool in Moseley Road Baths has yet to be decided it fate, whilst some seem to be wanting to get back to old ways, others want to find a new way to use the space to bring together a community that once thrived in its use.
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