The BBC has reported that Coventry’s iconic swimming baths is set to be demolished after the council failed to find another use for the building.
The building is Grade II listed but has not been used since 2020.
The BBC report, by Simon Gilbert, reveals that the council has spent almost £2.3m on Coventry’s former Olympic swimming pool and leisure centre complex since it was closed to save money.
Figures obtained by the BBC show £2,291,225 has been spent on Coventry Sports and Leisure Centre by Coventry City Council since it was shut in February 2020.
The council recently confirmed it intended to demolish the swimming pool section of the site “in the best interests of the city and the best interests of the taxpayers”, after marketing efforts failed to attract a new occupier.
The latest costs are shown to be dominated by around £300,000 a year spent on security and utilities, as well as £68,000 paid to Coventry Business Improvement District and a total of £355,000 on buildings insurance.
Prior to the closure, the council included forecasts in public reports which suggested it would have cost £15.5m over 45 years to modernise the existing facility. At the current rate of costs, the council would spend more than £20m simply keeping the site empty.
The council owns the building and granted an exclusivity agreement to Rainier Developments to attract a developer after the leisure centre’s 2020 closure. But five years of marketing efforts have failed to attract a buyer. The Council has not consulted Coventry people about the future of the building.
The BBC has also reported that Historic England will not stand in the way of the swimming pool building being demolished, despite its Grade II listing.
But the organisation, responsible for deciding which buildings should be protected with listed status, said whatever replaced it should “preserve or enhance the setting of Coventry Cathedral”.
The BBC revealed that the Council plans to bring forward demolition plans before the end of the year.
A Historic England spokesperson said: “Historic England is not minded to object to the demolition of the Central Baths, given its condition, the nature and cost of remedial works and the absence of viable proposals to secure its future.”
The organisation said there appeared to be “no realistic prospect of viable reuse for the building due to the substantial ongoing costs of security and maintenance”.
They added whatever replaced the 1966 building “should strive to equal the civic ambition displayed in the Central Baths when they first opened.”
However, the Coventry Society has learned that the adjoining sports centre, known to Coventrians as the “Elephant Building”, is to be spared demolition and is to be taken over by Coventry University.
Ironically the Coventry Society submitted the Sports Centre for listing in 2015, but this was turned down and the building currently has no protected status.