Inquiry ordered to help decide future of baths left to decay

Doncaster Council will spend £300,000 investigating the condition of the town's former St James' Baths, which closed nearly five years ago but were saved from demolition after a local campaign saw the building given Grade II listed status.
St. James Baths, Doncaster.St. James Baths, Doncaster.
St. James Baths, Doncaster.

The money will include urgent roof repairs aimed at preventing further deterioration to the swimming pool and Turkish bath, which was also once used as a music venue and hosted an early Beatles concert.

Historic England has told the council that detailed investigations were needed to understand the level of corrosion to the steel frame over the pool hall. Work will start in the next few days.

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Peter Dale, Doncaster’s regeneration director, said: “The repairs we plan to carry out will prevent the building from deteriorating further and the detailed investigations will uncover the true state of the problems faced by the building.”

Doncaster's St James Leisure Centre in 2012Doncaster's St James Leisure Centre in 2012
Doncaster's St James Leisure Centre in 2012

The council, which closed the baths on safety grounds over what it called “sustained structural damage”, warned that it may consider an application to remove it from the preserved buildings list should the investigation find refurbishment or other options “unviable”.