November 2024
The Visit
During a day trip to Birmingham, I visited this place with @MotionlessMike. After much difficulty gaining entry, we discovered a surprisingly well-preserved, beautiful pool hall - despite sitting vacant for years. Though minimal graffiti marked the walls, the pool area itself was virtually untouched. Remarkably, several lights around the building still flickered on, even a decade after the establishment had closed down.
History
Despite its historical significance, surprisingly little information about this place is available online. The facility opened on May 6, 1925, offering a swimming pool, separate bathing suites for men and women, and Victorian-style Turkish baths. Though the pool could be converted for other uses during the winter months, swimming remained popular year-round, and the floor was never added. At just 1,500 square meters, the baths were relatively small, yet they proved immensely popular with the local community over their 90 years of operation.
The facility closed in 2014, replaced by a new leisure center on an adjacent site. Since then, the vacant building has sat largely undisturbed, with remarkably little vandalism considering its abandoned state. In 2022, the local authority announced plans for a "sensitive transformation" of the non-listed building, intending to convert it into an "enterprise hub" that would also feature a bar and restaurant.
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Cheers for looking 
Fujifilm X-T2, 10-24mm f4 R OIS WR (Velvia)
Fujifilm X-T2, 10-24mm f4 R OIS WR (Velvia)
