Prince of Wales baths – Are you ready to take the plunge?

Published: 22 July, 2010
by DAN CARRIER

THE smell of fresh paint has yet to be overpowered by the whiff of chlorine – but otherwise the final touches to the new £25.3million rest­oration and refit of the Prince of Wales baths are done and dusted and staff are getting ready to throw open the doors for the first time this weekend.

And delighted is Flick Rea, who as leisure chief under the previous Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition, took charge of the four-year project. 

Cllr Rea believes that the landmark is more than just a swimming pool. “It inspired an affection more than places like the Swiss Cottage Baths ever did,” she said. “People really cared about it – it had played a role in the lives of generations.”

The baths have been completely renovated. As well as a three pools – including one which used the original tank and many of the tiles – the  first floor boasts a new gym and dance studio.

The New Journal was given an exclusive sneak preview as staff get ready for the opening day. 

When the terracotta, Grade II-listed building first opened back in 1903, its footbaths for working men and giant mangles for women who were charged with doing the household’s weekly wash were state-of-the-art. 

When the ribbon is cut  again 107 years on, the high-tech offerings include a room set aside for people to play keep fit games on computer consoles. 

Children from Gospel Oak primary school put the new Grafton Pool through it’s paces on Monday: with two shallow ends, it is perfect for learners, said Gary Dark of managing company Greenwich leisure.

The firm have a 15-year contract to manage the centre, tied into deals to also run Swiss Cottage, the Oasis and Mornington sports centres. 

They are six years into the contract, and are paid a flat lump sum each year by the Town Hall, though the system flips on its head for the last five years, with Camden receiving cash from the company. 

Funds for the build have come from selling flats in the upper floor of the building and land behind the site. However, no homes have yet been sold and there have been worries that with falling house prices, the final cost will be passed on to the Town Hall to meet.

To keep on top of the job, Cllr Rea asked for a weekly report from the building team. She said: “I was so determined this would not be a white elephant. I remember worrying that they’d find an unexploded Second World War bomb some where, or Boadicea’s grave.”

Cllr Rea recalls the first time she was given a tour of the dilapidated building – and was shocked by what she saw.

She said: “I went round and I thought: This is just a monumental task. It just looked so awful. I also got very depressed in the first year of the works – I was continually accused of having a secret plan to close it, to leave it empty or sell it off.”

And Cllr Rea says there is a lesson to learn from the project. She said: “Because of [financial] pressures no one will be doing anything like this again in the near future. But we can learn from this: do not demolish facilities – one day, if the will is there, it will get fixed.”

And for under-16s and over-60s, the pools are going to be free. While the new Tory-Lib-Dem coalition have scrapped free swimming nationally, Labour’s leisure chief Councillor Tulip Siddiq has promised to keep swimming free in Camden.

The Victorian Society’s Dr Ian Dungavell, who lives in Gospel Oak and campaigned to save the baths, said: “Camden is a shining light on how to treat our historic leisure facilities. We hope more authorities follow their example.”