Grange Lido

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Someone at English Heritage has played a cruel trick by giving listed status to the derelict Lido at Grange. This poor old wreck has been closed for 20 years, its entrance covered with signs saying Keep Out and Danger of Death. Now, it has been given elevated status as a listed building leading some poor souls to believe that a magic wand will bring it back to life. The Lido is essentially a lump of decaying concrete and there isn’t the remotest possibility of it being restored, not least because no-one would be daft enough to spend a fortune rebuilding something which would cost another fortune to keep running.
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My comment that the decision to list it was “bonkers” formed the headline in our local newspaper, which so impressed the BBC that they came up to ask me to repeat it for the evening’s news. My reaction may have been a tad forceful, but I was entitled to have my say because the listing puts at risk my proposal, which has the full backing of the Town and District Council and received a majority vote in a Grange plebiscite, to turn the Lido into an attractive public area, with a garden, cafe and fitness centre. My proposals are fully funded and costed and don’t require a magic wand. The photo above shows the Lido as it is now, the photo below, an artist’s impression of how it might look.