Broomhill Lido firm makes £1.8m council loan plea for Ipswich pool

Fusion Lifestyle has requested a loan of £1.8m from Ipswich Borough Council to carry out renovations to Broomhill Lido

A council has been asked to lend £1.8m for a lido renovation, on top of its initial £1.5m grant for the project.

Ipswich Borough Council is to consider endorsing the loan to Fusion Lifestyle, to enable it to deliver long-planned works to Broomhill Lido.

A £7.25m renovation of the pool, which shut in 2002, was due to start last year but was paused due to the pandemic.

Fusion Lifestyle said it would also contribute financially to the project.

Council papers said the company was "now in a position to invest £200,000".

A council spokesman said Fusion Lifestyle needed the extra cash and the council loan was "the only realistic option".

The £1.8m loan would supplement a £3.5m National Lottery heritage grant, and an existing grant commitment from the council of £1.5m.

The diving boards at Broomhill, pictured in 1989, were a big draw for visitors

Bryony Rudkin, Labour deputy leader of Ipswich Borough Council, said: "The Broomhill Lido project is really important for our town and has widespread support.

"I am recommending that the council offers to extend its support for the project as - without that offer - the project would almost certainly fail."

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The terms of the council loan would require the money to be repaid in full with an appropriate rate of interest, a spokesman added.

Fusion Lifestyle will manage the listed site when it opens, possibly in 2023.

Broomhill was built in 1938 and was regularly packed on hot days

Anthony Cawley, chief executive of Fusion Lifestyle, said: "We are really pleased that the council is open to lending us funds to support this project.

"It has long been one of our ambitions and despite the impacts of Covid we remain committed to it."

Mark Ling, chairman of the Broomhill Pool Trust, said the council and Fusion "deserve huge credit".

"They could have walked away, but to their credit have stuck with it. They want to complete the restoration and re-open Broomhill," he said.

"With this financial agreement it allows them to do just that, in an affordable and achievable way."

The council will decide on 15 December if it will support the loan.

A family enjoying a day out at Broomhill Lido in 1948

Broomhill attracted about 2,000 visitors a day when it opened in the late 1930s but has been unused for almost 20 years.

Various reopening dates have been given over the years but there is still no confirmed date for when work will start.

To showcase how vibrant the pool used to be, the trust has published an online archive of photos dating back to 1938.