From pool to brewery? Future of Haggerston Baths up for debate

Haggerston_baths_exterior_460

Haggerston Baths. Photograph: Hackney Council

A brewery, a theatre, a hotel, a swimming pool and homes are just some of the many ideas Hackney Council has received for the future of Haggerston Baths.

Hackney Council put a 250-year lease of the Grade-II listed bathhouse on the market in June, calling for developers to take the plunge and submit “expressions of interest”.

The Council says it has received 29 proposals for the 111-year-old Whiston Road building, attracting bids from “a range of individuals, firms and developers”.

Campaigners from Haggerston Pools Trust, who wish to see the building returned to use as a public swimming pool, tried to get the pool listed as an Asset of Community Value last year but were unsuccessful.

While four proposals include swimming pools, other ideas include using the building to build new homes or for mixed-use schemes.

There are also proposals for hotels, a brewery, retail, a music venue and recording studio, a museum, and an arts hub.

The proposals will be discussed at a public meeting on Thursday 8 October at the VLC Community Centre, next door to the baths at 7pm.

The feedback will be passed on to the bidders to help shape and refine their formal propositions.

Cllr Jonathan McShane, Cabinet Member for Health, a speaker from the Haggerston Pool Community Trust; and Chris Pritchard, Assistant Director of Property Services at the Council will be speaking at the meeting.

The Council is currently spending an approximate £100,000 upkeep on maintenance and security of the building. It estimates that it will cost around £25 million to make the building safe and bring it back into public use.

4 Comments

  1. Cynthia Garbutt on Sunday 20 September 2015 at 22:07

    I hope that’s low income housing. Should be interesting.



  2. Citizen on Monday 21 September 2015 at 19:42

    This is a great civic building and housing is clearly not the answer. If it is now economically viable as a pool, then that would obviously be the best use. London’s economy has picked up since the days when it was closed down. The problem is who is going to pay for the refurbishment? The Council? The HLF?



  3. TheGreatSmellOf Brute on Monday 21 September 2015 at 19:50

    I think we all know damn’ well that if the Baths were redeveloped for housing, any affordable homes would be tacked on purely as a box-ticking exercise, then ditched from the plans on the flimsiest of pretexts.

    The building used to house a community amenity, so if it’s not going to be re-opened as a swimming pool, surely the best re-use would be as some other kind of amenity which serves local people?



  4. Flo on Tuesday 22 September 2015 at 17:26

    Haggerston Baths is a grade II listed building of heritage and community value. In addition to planning permission, listed building consent is required to make internal and external changes including the removal of the swimming baths. The loss of the pool would irreversibly harm the building’s special historic and architectural interest as well as remove a much needed sports facility in a deprived part of Hackney next to two secondary schools. Every effort should therefore be made to retain and reopen the pool to the public in conjunction with other facilities serving the community. Look at Ironmonger’s Row baths in Islington or York Hall in Tower Hamlets…



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