As you know, Wendover Swimming Pool is getting a makeover in the form of brand new changing room facilities, as outlined in the plans displayed in the pool for some months now. It’s the first big project for us since we took over from the John Colet School and we are delighted that we have now raised enough funds, from grants and cash reserves, to go ahead.
We can now confirm that the pool building work will start on July 17th and continue for approximately 10 weeks.
We thought long and hard about the best timing for the work and, constrained as we were by the fact that we are on a school campus with a need to avoid too much term-time disruption, and also by the availability of builders, we reluctantly came to the conclusion that this needed to be over the summer holidays. Autumn and winter building also comes with the increased possibility of lost work time due to bad weather.
We then looked seriously into the possibility of keeping the pool open during this time but we found that this would be prohibitively expensive and raise many difficult health and safety issues. Attempting to keep the pool open would also lead to a much longer and uncertain period of construction.
In this light, we promise that if your membership runs through the closure period we will adjust things to make sure that you are not out of pocket. We will be issuing details of how exactly we will do this in due course.
Wendover Swimming CIO was established in December 2013 as a charity, in order to save it from closure. Since then, demand has been demonstrated by the large numbers now attending family swim sessions, and high usage by private swim schools and local schools. None of this would be possible without the support of our amazing group of volunteers.
However, the current pool changing room facilities are beyond economic repair. They currently do not meet the needs of wide range of pool users.
The work involves the internal removal of walls for a better layout with space for changing cubicles, a centralised toilet area making it easier to keep clean, pool viewing facilities, and a new entrance with space for pushchairs. Work will also include replacement of showers, toilets, floor tiles and under-floor heating.
The project will create new changing rooms and central area, which are fit for the next 20+ years. This new facilities will deliver the standards expected by our many users and help to secure the long term future of the pool. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in October and will keep you updated via the pool website.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
Wendover Swimming Trustees