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Report - - The pool - Smethwick Swimming Centre, Birmingham - May 2024 | Leisure Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - The pool - Smethwick Swimming Centre, Birmingham - May 2024

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tomvandutch

X-Ploring the world
28DL Full Member
This swimming pool was built in 1933 in the Art Deco style.

However, it was not just a swimming pool, but also an event hall.
In the first week of October the water was drained and the renovation began. After two weeks the time had come and dance events, concerts, exhibitions, boxing events, etc. could take place. Famous artists such as The Beatles, The Who and The Kings performed here. The dressing rooms were converted into dressing rooms for the artists and a VIP room was set up in the upstairs cafe.
Many swimming competitions, broadcast live on the BBC, took place here. The British Olympic team also uses it to train there.

During the war, several rooms were used as bunkers. In 1965 the second pool was inaugurated to enable year-round swimming. In the 1970s, both swimming pools were only used for swimming and a number of clubs settled there. Fitness courses now took place in the existing event rooms. A sauna was installed in the area where the bathtubs were located and the changing rooms were renovated.

In 2014 the BBC used the hall to film two episodes of a daily soap there.
In July 2023, the swimming pool was closed because a new and modern leisure center including a swimming pool was opened just a few hundred meters away.
Today the listed building is empty and the community is looking for a buyer for the building.

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Calamity Jane

i see beauty in the unloved, places & things
Regular User
Stunning art deco details everywhere. Even though it has been modernised, they kept the theme running throughout. Very nice photos 👍 👍
 

flasher

Mind the feeeence......!
28DL Full Member
It's still doable then? We had some fun with security earlier this year when we paid a visit, but we got away with good photos and minor injuries.
 
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