£5.5m plans to give former pool lease of life are unveiled
An artist's impression of how the outdoor pool at Tynemouth could look if the Friends of Tynemouth Pool are successful with their plans. Picture by PB Imaging.
AMBITIOUS plans which could give a once popular outdoor pool a new lease of life have been submitted.
The £5.5m proposal has been drawn up by members of the Friends of Tynemouth Outdoor Pool, who are keen to see the lido once again become a popular visitor attraction.
Officials of the community group submitted their business plan to North Tyneside Council on Monday, the deadline for any group or organisation interested in restoring the former pool.
The 88-page comprehensive publication was put together over a 12-week period with help from some of the region’s most respected names in architecture, building design, surveying, engineering, planning and law.
Among the proposals are to heat the outdoor pool by using geothermal energy from a tectonic fault line which runs from the Northumberland Basin.
An estimated £100,000 of work has been donated from professionals among the group’s 10,000 supporters via their Facebook page.
And officials are hoping they will be able to acquire the necessary £5m funding from a variety of other sources – including grant aid, public and private financial backing – if their project is backed by the council.
Barry Bell, one of the group’s founding members, said: “The sheer amount of work that has gone into producing this proposal in such a short amount of time, especially over the Christmas period, is phenomenal.
“We have estimated that around £100,000 of professional work has been donated to the project so far completely pro bono, and we couldn’t have reached this stage without the help and support of the people and organisations involved.
“Our plans are not based on any upfront or ongoing financial support from the local authority, however, its support is vital in securing the estimated £5.5m of regeneration investment the project will pull into the area, and we hope to open up positive communications with the council very soon.
“We’ve come a very long way in the last 12 weeks, and the quality of the proposal we submitted has more than demonstrated that this amazing project has firmly captured the imagination and passion of thousands of people across the north east and beyond.”
The pool was originally opened in 1925 and became hugely popular with locals and visitors.
However, its popularity began to wane in the 1970s and in 1996 the council turned it into an artificial rockpool.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Whitley Bay
Monday 20 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
