With their fake palm trees, flumes, verruca socks and smell of chlorine, leisure centres have for decades provided a welcome escape from the stress of day to day life.
But now, leading charity the 20th Century Society (C20) has launched a campaign for ten venues to be granted listed status, as dozens of centres around the country are threatened by soaring costs, with many already having closed.
It comes after a report commissioned in September last year estimated that 40 per cent of public pools in the country – more than 1,800 sites – could be forced to close by 2030.
The impact of the current energy crisis has only made the situation worse for venues, with Swim England chief executive saying this year that ‘every pool is now at risk’ as the cost of heating and the impact of hits cash-strapped councils.
The buildings highlighted as being in need of protection include Coventry Sports Centre, which was built in 1977; Perth Leisure Centre in Scotland, which opened in 1988; and Wales’s Wrexham Waterworld, which welcomed its first visitors in 1967.
Leading charity the 20th Century Society (C20) has launched a campaign to grant ten venues listed status, as dozens of centres around the country are threatened by soaring costs, with many already having closed. The buildings highlighted as being in need of protection include Coventry Sports Centre (pictured), which was built in 1977
Wales’s Wrexham Waterworld, which welcomed its first visitors in 1967, is another venue that C20 is aiming to get listed status for
Perth Leisure Centre was one of FaulknerBrowns’ later developments.It is built on an equilateral triangular plan and boasts two flumes that dramatically flow above the heads of those who are swimming. Above: An original plan of the venue
The boom in the construction of publicly-funded leisure centres came in the 1970s.
