Glenogle Baths: Having a splashing time again

A VICTORIAN swimming pool rescued from closure after a huge public campaign has reopened its doors after a £5.7 million revamp.

More than 9,500 people backed a petition to save Glenogle Baths, in Edinburgh, after it fell into disrepair and was threatened with being sold off by the local authority.

Despite the cost of repairs soaring from an original estimate of 2.9 million, Edinburgh City Council insisted it was committed to ensuring that Glenogle was the last of the city's Victorian pools to be refurbished.

The project - supported with a 350,000 grant from sportscotland - has seen new changing rooms, lifts, sauna and steam-room facilities, and a revamped gym and fitness studio installed, while the pool has also been fitted with solar roof panels.

Deidre Brock, the city's culture leader, said: "The renovation, completed on time and on budget, has wonderfully preserved the building's Victorian heritage, while greatly improving accessibility and adding complementary modern touches.

"I would like to thank all the pool's users for their patience and understanding while these essential works were being carried out. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to the new, improved Glenogle Swim Centre."

The Stockbridge pool, designed by Edinburgh architect Robert Morham, was opened in 1900. It was known as Glenogle Baths until the 1980s and was once used as a place to wash as much as it was a leisure centre.

Glenogle Baths has reopened just days after another Edinburgh pool, Warrender Swim Centre, reopened following a six-month closure to repair its roof. It was forced to shut in November when a panel of glass fell from the roof and left a swimmer with an injured arm.