The campaign to bring an outdoor swimming pool back to Abergavenny has taken an important next step this week after receiving £20,000 of funding to begin a feasibility study on the site.
The study, which will cost the Abergavenny Lido Group around £25,000, will begin immediately, looking at a number of factors that include all aspects of the planning applications, surveying, construction and quotations, as well as likely running costs and sustainability of the pool.
The group has built a huge amount of momentum in the town over the last 18 months and say this generous donation brings them yet another step closer to the once popular lido returning to the area.
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The original outdoor pool that first opened in Abergavenny in 1938 was closed for good in 1996 before it was demolished and filled in a decade later.
Proposals from the group would look to re-open a 25 metre heated pool on the site of the former pool at Bailey Park, and would see it open to the public year round as a new and vibrant attraction for the town.
It is estimated that it could cost between £3m to £7m pounds to build if given the green light to go ahead, and would be only the second active Lido in Wales alongside the popular Pontypridd Lido.
The first stage of assessing the feasibility of the site must first be completed however, with a study which would assess a number of factors including the costs of construction and the long term running of the pool.
£20,000 was donated by The Vale of Usk Local Action Group alongside Abergavenny Town Council and a number of other supportive businesses within the town. The study is expected to be completed by early summer 2022 and could also help secure future funding from potential investors to enable the build to go ahead.
George Foster is chair of the Abergavenny Lido Group and says he is feeling very up-beat about the results of the study, as it could have an overwhelmingly positive impact on the town of Abergavenny for years to come.
He said: "The positivity we have seen towards this project has been absolutely brilliant over the last few months, and it's great to see that the public in Abergavenny and its surrounding areas are really behind it.
"With the funding we've had from a number of supporters we can now begin to go through the feasibility study, looking at the potential costs of building and running the lido here. We're all very excited and if our numbers add up the next step will be to get the funding to build the lido.
"We all think this would be a massive boost to the area if we can get it open again, both in terms of the health benefits it could bring for locals, as well as the development of Abergavenny as a destination for tourism. People love outdoor swimming and with such a big catchment area available to us we think it could become very popular."
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