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Read the latest news from The Broomhill Pool Trust below. Please check back frequently for the latest information. If you wish to be sent our newsletter, please fill out our Friends form.
Broomhill Pool's Channel swimming legend receives MBE
Broomhill Pool Trust President, Mike Read, has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours List.
Open Water swimmer, Mike has held the Channel Swimming Association title of "King of the Channel" over a 26 year period !
In May 2011, Mike was formally inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF).
It was at Ipswich's magnificent Broomhill Pool that Mike trained and prepared for his record breaking accomplishments and hence his desire to see the popular facility reinstated.
From all at the Broomhill Pool Trust we wish you all a happy, peaceful & prosperous 2012 !
Influential heritage society praises "far sighted" Borough Executive over Broomhill. Following Ipswich Borough Council‘s Executive Committee “green light” for an interested, proven operator to work towards the re-opening of Broomhill lido, The Twentieth Century Society has publically praised the Administration.
Senior Case worker, Dr Christina Malathouni applauded the Borough on a "highly commendable, very brave and far-sighted decision in the current difficult times".
See full report: http://c20society.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/welcome-back-my-lido/
The Council also renewed their pledge to give £1 million to the project, which will, they hope, help to attract other funding. The operator, which has expressed a strong interest in restoring the pool and changing rooms and building a new fitness suite on the site, will now be asked to develop detailed plans for the £5 million project - which will also need Heritage Lottery Funding in order to succeed.
The Twentieth Century further states that "it has always been a great pleasure for the Society to support this great cause [reviving Broomhill Pool], and we remain committed to it, but the full credit goes to Broomhill Pool Trust. Our congratulations to them for this great result and for their incredibly hard work on this project for many years. There is of course still a lot more to be done at Broomhill, but this latest news gives us confidence that both BPT and IBC will see this through and deliver a restored lido to the people of Ipswich!"
Notes & Link:
"The Twentieth Century Society exists to safeguard the heritage of architecture and design in Britain from 1914 onwards. The Society’s prime objectives are conservation, to protect the buildings and design that characterise the Twentieth Century in Britain, and education, to extend our knowledge and appreciation of them, whether iconic buildings like the Royal Festival Hall or everyday artefacts like the red telephone box".
Case Officer: Dr Christina Malathouni, Senior Case Worker.
Ipswich Evening Star reports: "Broomhill gets a lifeline as restoration backed by the Borough".
"Broomhill Pool gets £1m pledge from Ipswich council" BBC Suffolk reports: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-15841721
Dear Broomhill Pool supporter,
BROOMHILL POOL DECISION IMMINENT - YOU CAN BE THERE TOO
IBC Executive Meeting, Tuesday 22 November 2011. 6:00pm.At IBC Offices, Grafton House, Russell Road, Ipswich IP12DE.
The public may observe this meeting and so the Trust and Broomhill supporters may attend to observe only (and show their respectful support for Option1). Please arrive before 5:45pm
Notes & recap:
The Borough Executive has five options on the table; including demolition and change of usage (studies show that these would cost far more than the £1m currently budgeted by IBC and deliver little benefit for taxpayers).
However, also of concern to the Trust is option 2 which would see a developer look to de-list the site (challenge and overturn Grade 2 status), reduce the pool length from 55 yards to 25 metres, demolish the grand stand, and build housing on the pool car park (which is part of Broomhill Park’s attractive open frontage). We believe that the neighbouring Westbourne Library building (which is in essence the pool’s twin building & built by same Borough Engineer) is threatened by this option as it would look to move the library service into the revamped pool site.
In simple terms option 2 currently shows 10 houses to be built to fund the scheme, so as a rough estimate selling at £150k each they would only raise £1.5m less the costs to build (est. £500k). Even if the scheme found an operator to pay some rent there still isn’t anywhere near enough funds to cover the estimated £4m cost to develop the pool site. The money has to come from somewhere, and we believe it will be from further housing on the Library and Library car park site. Along with the clear cultural and heritage damage, this “Frankenstein” scheme has NO operator in line (and they are unlikely to find one without any parking at all left at the site). The whole option 2 scheme relies heavily on revenues from housing in a very depressed housing market.
The Trust fully backs option 1 which is our preferred operator's scheme which intends to fully and sympathetically restore the pool to its original 1938 condition. We find it hard to fathom that IBC would not back this option which is politically a “no lose” scenario for them. The Operator has an unrivalled track record in fundraising for exactly these projects; and they are the foremost operator in the country for lidos. In simple terms if they fail to raise necessary third party funding then IBC & local taxpayers lose nothing (the £1m promised and budgeted by IBC is simply returned); but if they succeed then IBC & taxpayers get a £5m fully restored grade II listed lido for just £1m of taxpayer money. You simply won’t get a better deal than that in times of austerity.
The Trust took out full page adverts in the East Anglia Daily Times and Ipswich Evening Star on 9/10 November to bring to the public’s attention the five options being considered by IBC, plus our total backing for our preferred operator's option. We hope that the IBC Executive will let common sense prevail to choose Option 1, to keep their manifesto promise on the budgeted £1m, and to work closely with our preferred operator to give this scheme every chance to succeed.
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