Campaigners for a Carlisle heritage asset threatened with closure are preparing to make their case for a share of Government funding.
Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths are attending a behind closed doors meeting at the city council on Wednesday, pitching for a share of £4.1 million in Government funding. The cash comes from Carlisle’s Shared Prosperity Fund grant.
Custodians of the baths will join other stakeholders in pitching for a share of the funding, setting out their plans if they are successful.
Friends of the Turkish Baths will ask that the council allocates funds to the facility on James Street in the Carlisle Investment Plan.
Chair of the group Julie Minns said: “It’s in the region of £100,000. The funding will cover the fees for the next stage of the viability study which will go into a lot of detail on what needs to happen in order to realise our vision.”
The group could later bid for capital funding for the restoration and redevelopment of the health suite on James Street.
However, Ms Minns said that the group urgently needs clarity on the future of the baths.
The Turkish Health Suite is currently set to close in September when the adjacent 1970s pool building is demolished, facilitating the Borderlands funded redevelopment of Carlisle Train Station.
Adding more complexity to the situation, Carlisle’s swimming provision will be moved to the Sands Centre when its Town Deal funded redevelopment is complete in October. At this point staff of GLL will be moved to the Sands Centre from the baths.
Ms Minns said: “The city council needs to come to a decision pretty soon with GLL, there still seems to be this question on the impact of the Station Gateway Project.
“The city council needs to sit down with the county and iron that out, it seems to have stalled around this question of when Borderlands will publish final plans for the site.”
A report prepared by the city council’s deputy chief executive for a meeting of the People Panel said: “Further discussions have taken place with the Friends of the Turkish Baths to review the resolutions from the deputation to city council and develop plans for the ongoing operation of the site pre, during and post demolition.
“The Friends group also discussed their work to develop a business plan and early design for the site.”
