Cost of protecting listed Coventry baths 'unsustainable'

A disused leisure centre site continues to cost about £400,000 a year to maintain since it closed nearly four years ago, a council has said.

Coventry City Council said the sums to protect the Grade II listed building were "unsustainable".

Finding a use for the old Coventry Sports and Leisure Centre buildings was "almost impossible", the authority added.

The swimming pool opened in 1966 and was known locally as "Cov baths".

The adjoining leisure centre, which was built in the 1970s and linked by a walkway, failed to get listed status in 2015.

Both were closed due to spiralling maintenance and repair costs.

Protecting the mothballed building was costing £400,000 per year, the council said

"The council owns many wonderful historic buildings, and we know that they take ownership of them seriously," said Historic England.

Citing reasons for the baths' listed status, the organisation said they were among the most ambitious built anywhere in Britain in the 1960s when large swimming complexes were encouraged.

Three pools including the main pool, which was the first of its kind to be planned, led to it being designated a centre for training and staging international events in the Midlands, Historic England added.

The "striking wing design" and full-height glazed south wall were said to be part of the baths' architectural interest.

The baths are Grade II listed for architectural features such as the full glazed south wall and wing design roof

Labour councillor Jim O'Boyle said the building has had to be maintained within accordance of its listed status.

"It's costing us to keep it up to spec, in order to protect the listing identified by Historic England," he explained.

"That is not sustainable by a local authority."

International events were held at the Olympic-sized pool before its closure

He added: "We've tried to market it, we've tried to find a user, and I'm afraid [despite] all of that work we haven't been able to find one.

"That doesn't mean to say we're going to knock it down, what it means is we have to go into further discussion with Historic England about how we can look to utilise this building."