Hope historic Sheffield swimming pool will re-open following closure
Concerns raised over future of well known pool
Swimming pool bosses say they are looking into how they can re-open one of the city’s longest serving swimming pools.
King Edwards Pool, in Broomhall, closed suddenly two weeks ago, with parents of children who were booked in for swimming lessons left fearing it had closed permanently.
Now, after The Star contacted the trustees of the charity which run the pool, a statement has been issued.
They said: “The pool remains temporarily closed due to technical problems.
“We are investigating options for reopening the pool. During this closure period we have been working with Sheffield City Council to relocate school swimming and swimming club sessions to alternative pools in Sheffield.
“We apologise to all our customers for the inconvenience the closure has caused them. We will be contacting swimming lesson and Frequent User Card customers to arrange to refund them for lessons or sessions that have been cancelled during the closure period.
“We hope to be able to provide a further update during the week beginning Monday June 1.”
Worried parents had contacted The Star asking for answers over the pool.
Mums and dads whose children have been booked in for swimming lessons at the venue, which has been running for 90 years, told us they had been given no information, and e-mails have bounced back to them.
They also raised concerns that the venue’s website has now stopped operating, and returns a message that it has been ‘suspended’
One mum who contacted The Star, who asked not to be named, said: “Since the abrupt closure last Monday, the pool website has gone down and all emails to the pool end up bouncing back, despite the message on the phone line saying to email them for updates.
“Many of us have already paid for our children’s lessons up until the end of the school year and are concerned about whether we’ll get it back if the pool doesn’t re-open.”
She said that normally the pool had been good at keeping parents updated with changes or closures but apart from the parents who were phoned last Monday on the first day of closure, everyone else found out either by word of mouth, by reading about it in The Star, or from turning up for their lesson only to see the sign on the door.
She said parents were concerned as to if the venue, where generations of youngsters in the city have learned to swim was going to re-open.
She added without any means of contacting the pool or knowing what had happened, they had been left in the dark.
The Star had hand delivered a letter to the trustees of the charity which runs the pool to ask what was happening.
A sign attributed to the KES team, placed in the window next to the door two weeks ago stated: "Unfortunately, due to a technical issue with the pool, we will be temporarily closed.
"We will update you with further information when possible.
"We truly apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
But users were concerned that they have heard nothing since.
Although it is next to the King Edward VII school site, it is run by an independent trust and is open to the public, with many swimmers using its public swimming sessions. It is now a registered charity.
It is one of the longest pools in the city, as it over30m in length, with shallow water and both ends and a deeper middle section.
The pool dates back to 1936 when it was built for the school, then a grammar school. The school says replaced an old open-air pool that had been built by Wesley College in Victorian times that had become full of dirty water and covered with slime.
As well as lessons, the current pool also offers public swims, aquarobics, over 50’s sessions, adult and child and party hire.