SINKING FEELING AT THE LEISURE POOL

Local News for Southsiders ‘Festive Issue’

Both swimming pools in Gorbals £10m Leisure Centre have been closed since the start of December because tiles are coming off the pool floor.

Opened in January 2000 by the Princess Royal, the complex was described as ‘a showpiece for Glasgow that we can be proud of’.

All architectural, engineering and surveying services were provided by Glasgow City Council’s own Technical departments and tiles were imported from Italy.

Said a City spokesperson, ‘We expect the leisure pool to re-open on January 3 and the 25 metre pool to re-open by the end of January. All other facilities are open and operate normally. He said the nearest alternative pools were at Tollcross and Bellahouston.

Local Councillor James Mutter added, I’m very disappointed that something like this should happen so soon after pool was opened. We worked hard to get this facility in Gorbals and we are very proud of it. It is used by a lot of people from Gorbals and beyond.’ He has asked why imported tiles were used. ‘It will take a lot longer to get the replacements, ‘ he said. But he has been assured that work on the leisure pool will start on Saturday December 17 and be completed by Tuesday January 3. The other leisure facilities – sauna, gym, etc – remain open although the pool will be closed.

Castlemilk pool is due to close in April for at least a year for major refurbishment. The only other pool on the Southside is Bellahouston which is currently functioning well but was closed, briefly a few years ago after refurbishment so that the ventilation systems could be adjusted.

Public baths at Govanhill, which were the subject of a sit-in by users who wanted to retail the Edwardian, B-listed, facilities, were closed so dramatically by the City Council in 2001 that a riot ensued. Said Andrew Johnson, a spokesman for the Govanhill Baths Community Trust, ‘It is ironic. Four years ago the City said Govanhill Baths were past their sell by date and we should all use the state-of-art now leisure pool at Gorbals. The architectural survey we’d had done recently shows the Govanhill main pool is in perfectly good order despite lying empty all this time.’ The Trust has until March 14 put detailed proposals – and funding commitments – before the Council to convert the Calder Street facility into a Health Living centre. It would cost around £3 million and take up to five years to complete.

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