THE restoration of Glasgow’s Govanhill Baths has been given a big boost, with a further half-a-million pounds being awarded to the project.
The plans to bring the baths back to their best and reopen the site in the Southside of Glasgow have earned the £500,000 grant from the new Heritage Environment Scotland (HES) body.
The award comes just weeks after the Govanhill Baths Community Trust received £1.2 million in support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, to assist their bid to reopen the venue, which closed in 2001.
Despite opening their doors as a community hub in 2013, the baths have not been fully restored and the Trust hopes to bring back the two pools and a Turkish suite, as well as having a theatre and arts venue on the site.
The A-listed building, which was built in 1865, had been a focal point for the Govanhill community, but despite a large campaign and protest to save the baths, Glasgow City council deemed the site too expensive to refurbish.
Since the partial reopening in 2013, the complex has been used primarily as a creative community hub, screening documentaries and holding free knitting and upcycling classes. The space has also played host to several art exhibitions, such as Anthea Hamilton and Nicholas Byrnes Love sculpture display, which was on show during the 2014 Glasgow International Arts Festival.
The building is just one of five projects which benefited from the £1.7m in repair grants awarded by HES, who plan to invest about £14m annually in Scotland’s historic environment.
The old Dumbarton Academy and Burgh Hall was the other big recipient of the HES grants, receiving £500,000 to help refurbish the building.
The refurbishment of the building will coincide with the construction of new council offices, which will be built at the back of the town centre site, costing an estimated £16.4m.
Other sites awarded grants include the former British Linen Bank in Glasgow’s Gorbals area and the Old Achintore School in Fort William, which received almost £270,000 towards its conversion into a civic centre for the town’s residents to use.
The former Davidson Cottage Hospital in Girvan, South Ayrshire also received just under £67,000 from the HES board.
After the recent grants, campaigners from the Govanhill Community Trust said they were delighted the Baths’ future had been secured.
GBCT Trust Manager Fatima Uygun said: “It has been a collective effort involving thousands of people over many years. I am honoured to have been part of this campaign and delighted that we are moving forward to achieve what we set out to do in March 2001.”
Chairwoman of HES, Jane Ryder, said the five projects would “greatly benefit” local communities.
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