A HUGE £2.7million renovation is on the cards for a well-loved art deco lido in the UK.
With the summer finally in full swing, people up and down the country will be heading to their local lido to cool down.
One place where Brits in Gloucestershire cool off in the summer is Stratford Park Lido.
The art deco cold-water lido is set to benefit from a huge £2.7million renovation.
Stratford Park Lido is right next to the award-winning Stratford Park, which has won the Green Flag Award on multiple occasions.
The lido is being renovated by Stroud District Council, with the repair work set to take place over a five-year period.
Renovation work is set to include repairs to the brickwork and upgrades to the roofing, doors, flooring, air conditioning, lighting, decoration and the external toilet block at the leisure centre.
The funding will also pay for repairs to the lido tank and replace the old lido pumps, which are said to be more than 80-years-old, according to Gloucestershire Live.
Renovations works totalling £1.3million will take place during the first year of the renovation project, with more maintenance work set to take place in the years following.
Stroud District Council will then work out how feasible it will be to make large scale changes at the leisure centre, with the aim to attract more visitors and improve their experiences.
The lido will be run by Stroud District Council for the first time since 1992.
Stratford Park Lido first opened to the public in 1936, and it was initially heated until its pipes were reused during the war effort.
Nowadays, the cold-water lido is fed with spring water from a borehole.
The lido opens for around 100 days a year from the end of May.
Community Services and Licensing Committee Chair Beki Aldam spoke about the renovation plans: “We are excited about the opportunities that a sound and necessary investment in the leisure centre and Lido will give us.
“We want a leisure centre and lido that residents can be proud of and visitors flock to see.
“We want to honour the heritage of our area – with a spring-water filled outdoor swimming experience, and one of the only Grade-One listed diving boards left in the country! There is so much potential.”
Authors Emma Pusill and Janet Wilkinson have spent the last two decades visiting every lido in the UK.
After becoming hooked on lidos, the pair documented their love, and knowledge, of the outdoor pools in the Lido Guide.
In their book, they wrote: “The pool is an unexpected, and almost criminally under-utilised, period gem in the heart of Stroud.”
Despite the cold water, authors Emma and Janet encouraged visitors to forget about the negatives.
They added: “At 50 metres long it is inspiring in scale, as are the listed original diving platforms that really ae the knock-out feature of this pool.”
While the diving boards are no longer in use, they’re still an interesting feature of the lido.
There are plenty of other lidos in the UK that are currently being renovated too.
Hilsea Lido, the UK’s deepest lido in the UK, is slated to open in 2025 – after being closed for more than three years.
The 1930s lido first closed its doors back in 2007, but it reopened back in 2014 after its management was taken over by Hilsea Lido Pool for the People – a charity formed by residents.
The charity group was forced to close Hilsea Lido in 2022 because its old infrastructure was in desperate need of a refurb.
Broomhill open air swimming pool has been closed for over two decades.
However, that’s set to change soon with funding secured for a £10m redevelopment of the pool.
Kent’s The Strand Lido in Gillingham has been compared to Greece because of its bright blue and white design.
And a lido in London is said to have similar vibes to that of Tenerife.
