UPDATE 57

28 September 2009

TAKE IN “DEEP BREATHS” AT THE GOVANHILL BATHS!

Glasgow’s Doors Open Day 19th and 20th September 2009, 10am - 4pm

1. Doors Open Day (1)

After the huge success of Doors Open Day at the Baths last year when over 1000 people attended, we have decided to open for two days this year. Doors Open Day is an international celebration of important historic buildings where many cities in the world “open doors” free of charge to the public.

The Baths have been placed in the top ten (6th) of Glasgow’s most popular architectural attractions according to visits made last year

As last year there is a full tour of the Baths guided by Friends of the Baths from the original campaign in 2001. The Trust has published a pamphlet outlining the history of the baths to go with the tour which identifies key moments in the Bath’s history and development. There will be wide range of activities in the old "Steamie" and in the “Peace Garden” outside for children and visitors. They include; music, lots of children’s activities, stalls, crafts, bric-a-brac, information about the development of the baths, the plans for and model of the proposed Wellbeing Centre - prepared by NORD Architecture, our sponsors. Planning permission for the proposals was recently granted by Glasgow City Council Planning Committee unanimously. Steve Inch Chief Executive Officer at DRS Glasgow said on 24th June;

"The proposed sensitive restoration and bringing this listed, vacant building back into use would help support the attractiveness of the area and provide a further community facility for the benefit of local residents."

2. Community Gives the Baths a Facelift

An army of local volunteers and Friends of the Baths have spent the last two weekends giving the building a face-lift. The front has been repainted from Trust funds – a mark of the affection the community has for this Edwardian building. Glasgow City Council DRS Department under Steve Inch has continued to support the Trust’s work by providing squads of workers to clean up inside the baths and clear away all debris outside, as well as “cherry picking” the growths on the top of the building!

3. “Deep Breaths” at the Baths

Art increasingly plays an important role in the regeneration of communities. The Govanhill Baths Trust wants the Project to open the Baths as a Wellbeing Centre to be a major catalyst in regenerating the fabric and cultural life of Govanhill.

This year an Art Exhibition has been organisd to coincide with Doors Open Day and is mounted at strategic points around the baths on the tour route. It will be formally launched in a private preview by Jo McFadyen, a Supervisor at the baths for some 20 years in the 60,s 70’s and 80’s and Baillie Nina Baker of Glasgow City Council. This will take place at the baths on Friday 18th September, 5–7pm, in the Steamie. The artists, local residents, community groups and politicians, as well as the Friends of Govanhill Baths are invited for this preview.

The Exhibition has been organised by Baths Art Team (GBART). It features 23 artists whose exhibits respond to the Baths and the GBCT campaign, including the history, architecture, personal memories of the Baths in use and the campaign to save it that started in 2001. From small quiet art works tucked in corners, to large sculptures, photography and ceramics, there are thoughtful and varied responses. Listen to a specially commissioned soundscape entitled; “Dear Sir Daniel” by Lucie Potter. The sound installation brings together shared and disparate histories of our baths, restoring the voices of past users within the “grand dame” of Calder Street as she stands today. Made possible through the involvement of local residents, the stories are translated into English, Urdu, Punjabi and Czech, creating a contemporary work for Govanhill's diverse communities.
 
Ruth Barker a local artist commissioned to write about the Exhibition said;

"Artists have worked to select and to articulate; to contradict and to celebrate; to memorialise and to embellish; to reinforce; to historicise; to invent; to explore; and to reveal. They have worked at every scale from the monumental to the intimate. They have occupied every corner and run the fingerprints of their consideration over every surface. As visitors, we can vicariously feel the artists' attention, their thoughtfulness and their decision-making. We might even feel that their care has become an act of love for the building they have chosen to work within, or that Deep Breaths is, in fact, less an exhibition than a series of gifts".

Local resident and user of the baths for 60 years said;

My memories can go back 60 years when I used to go to Calder St swimming baths. I lived in Prince Edward St and went to Cuthbert St and Strathbungo schools. I went a few times a week. Tuesday night was a favourite night, and after swimming club we used to go across to Danny’s fish and chip shop which is still in Calder St, 3p for a bag of chips. It was then called a wooden thruppenny. And you got so bad, you had to suck the vinegar out the paper. That was when your mother used to give you a skelp, when your lips were all marked with the vinegar. I started going when I was just 4 years old and I remember it was the small pond that I learned to swim in. I don’t know her name but I just remember that it was a big lady who used to teach us swimming. She put a rope round your neck and underneath your arms and she used to pull you across and up and down the pool until you got a bit more confident. And then she would just relax that and this went on over 5 or 6 weeks and you were off and swimming.

Allan Bruce, swimmer at the baths, 1945-2001
Note 1. See Glasgow Doors Open Day Web Site: http://www.doorsopendays.org.uk/opendays/area_programmes.aspx?resPP=10&areaID=18

New Poolside Guardian: May June 09 | (PDF)

Beautiful Powerpoint Presentation of The Plan for the Refurbished Baths (By NORD Architecture) (15mb)

Recent updates:

Our business plan, which was recently presented to Glasgow City Council, can be viewed here in PDF format. Here is a PDF of our timeline for reopening the Baths.

Letters relevant to our efforts to secure funding:

Letter sent to Frank McAveety MSP and Nicola Sturgeon MSP
Request for funding sent to the Scottish Government
Letter sent to Glagow City Councillors
Letter sent to Steve Inch, executive director of Development and Regeneration Services, Glasgow City Council

We have recently conducted research to investigate the impact of the Baths closure on black and minority ethnic communities, and publicly launched it on Monday 19 January. View the research here in PDF format.

Spectacular Photo Slideshows - Get a Glimpse Inside the Baths!

Facebook users: Visit the Friends of the Baths Facebook group here.

We need you to volunteer with us! Learn more about our charity shop, view pictures of the shop and learn how to become a volunteer at our new charity shop page.

View the new Art and Regeneration study here.

Govanhill Baths Community Trust thanks its New Sponsor - NORD Architecture

NORD's website has an excellent photo series on their plans for the Baths and pictures of the Baths as they currently are.

Govanhill Public Baths and Wash-house on Calder Street, c. 1917