A BELOVED swimming pool which has stood derelict for six years is to be demolished, despite efforts to bring it back into use.
The government has approved the Listed Building Consent application for demolition of Coventry Central Baths, which has been costing taxpayers around £400,000 a year since it became vacant in 2020.
Since then, Reford Developments has been working with Coventry City Council to find new occupiers, or repurpose the four-acre site.
The Fairfax Street swimming pool complex was opened in 1966. It sits next to the modernist Elephant building – opened in 1976 as a sports centre – in the heart of Coventry city centre.
The Central Baths building was Grade II listed in 1997, but the opening of the Olympic-sized pool at the Alan Higgs Centre, and The Wave indoor water park in 2019, meant the outdated facility became surplus to requirements.
In August 2025, Historic England confirmed it would not object to the demolition of the Central Baths, given the condition of the building, the nature and cost of remedial works, and the absence of viable proposals to secure its future.
The organisation agreed there was no realistic prospect of viable reuse, due to the substantial ongoing costs of security and essential maintenance, which is in the region of £400,000 per year.
Coun Lynnette Kelly, the council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration, and Climate Change, said: “Since the Cov Baths closed in February 2020, there has been extensive work carried out to try to find a suitable use for the site.
“Redford Developments specialises in this kind of work, but despite their best efforts this has been unsuccessful and the building remains empty. This means a prominent space in our city is being left to decay and is costing taxpayers thousands of pounds every year. This cannot be allowed to continue.
“We would have loved to protect Cov Baths, as it is a part of our city, and has a place in many people’s hearts, but we must find a way to bring this area back to life. We are therefore grateful for the government’s approval to demolish the site, enabling us to plan something special.”
Coventry City Council was awarded £50,000 of grant funding from Homes England to seek approval to demolish the Central Baths and plan for the wholescale regeneration of the site.
Works to prepare the site for demolition can now commence, along with the procurement of the demolition contract.
Richard Mees, Chief Executive of Henley-in-Arden-based Redford Developments, said: “Over recent years, this former swimming pool has been condemned as unfit for its function and is a financially unviable property asset.
“Considerable efforts to repurpose the site have been undertaken, including a national marketing exercise and significant work by our consultant team to explore all possible options to retain the asset, however there are fundamental issues preventing its re-use.
“Options for re-use, reconfiguration, partial demolition and full demolition have all been analysed, with full demolition established as being in the best interests for the Council and the people of Coventry.
“Now we can work with the Council to commission the demolition of the derelict structure, reducing the ongoing cost burden to taxpayers. As a cleared site in the beating heart of such a vibrant city centre, it will have a bright future.”
The site joins 10 other brownfield sites in the city being promoted, progressed, or developed by Redford Developments.
Coventry City Council has recently granted outline planning approval for the firm’s plans to redevelop a 1.8 hectare brownfield site next to the University of Warwick into a low-rise 400-bed student accommodation scheme.
Redford has also submitted an outline planning application to redevelop the former E.ON headquarters site at nearby Westwood Business Park into a residential development of around 100 homes.
