Templemore Baths, the sole surviving Victorian public baths in Ireland, has reopened to the public following a £17m project to restore and expand the historic building.
Many of its original features have been sympathetically restored including the ‘major pool’ and the old slipper baths.
A newly built 28,000sq ft extension has more than doubled the building’s footprint. It includes modern leisure facilities including a 25m six-lane swimming pool with spectator seating, an 80-station gym, spa facilities and changing rooms.
The former courtyard area has been transformed into a café within an atrium,
“Templemore Baths is one of the city’s most historically significant buildings, so to see it transformed from a crumbling, derelict shell into a beautifully restored space for the local community and visitors is just fantastic,” said Belfast Lord Mayor, councillor Ryan Murphy.
“The opening of the new extension also means that east Belfast will be blessed with three state-of-the-art leisure facilities following the opening of Lisnasharragh in 2019 and Avoniel last year.”
The redevelopment of Templemore Baths was funded by Belfast City Council and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is the sixth of seven new centres to be completed as part of Council’s £105m Leisure Transformation Programme.
The leisure facilities at Templemore will be managed by GLL.
