Council ‘determined’ to forge ahead with Kings Hall Leisure Centre refurbishment despite ‘significant financial challenges’

Hackney Mayor Philip Glanville (right) on a visit to the leisure centre last year. Photograph: Hackney Council

The historic Kings Hall Leisure Centre in central Hackney is one step closer to getting a facelift.

Town Hall bosses are set to approve a design team to develop plans for refurbishment at the Grade II-listed building.

A council report said the condition of the 125-year-old premises “continues to deteriorate”.

It warned that repair costs are rising but “doing nothing is simply not an option, nor can we keep patching up this valuable community asset”.

Hackney Mayor Philip Glanville said: “We are determined, even in the context of significant financial challenges, to continue to prioritise investment in much-loved local leisure facilities like Kings Hall, which attracts approximately 380,000 visits annually.”

Last year, the council opened the new Britannia Leisure Centre as part of a £384m redevelopment project.

It has also spent money on London Fields Lido, Clissold Centre and the West Reservoir Centre.

The plug was pulled on Haggerston Baths in 2000 and it is now being redeveloped as offices and a community space.

The council’s procurement committee next Monday is set to approve a four-year contract worth £3.3m for a company to draw up designs for Kings Hall and prepare them to be submitted as a planning application.

It is likely that the cabinet will be asked to consider the financial business case for the refurbishment in 2024. The report said the construction value is estimated at £35m.

Kings Hall, located on Lower Clapton Road, has a 25-metre swimming pool, a smaller family pool, a sauna and steam room, as well as a gym and studio for classes. It also has a larger sports hall, which is currently closed for roof repairs.

The centre opened as a public bath house in 1897 and was visited nearly 150,000 times in the first five months.

The building initially included first- and second-class men’s baths as well as a pool for women. It was later adapted into a public hall and steam baths were installed in 1937.

There were plans to demolish it in the 1930s and again in the 1960s.

The council modernised it in the early 1990s and said it is time for another facelift.

According to English Heritage, “the baths retain numerous features of interest as well as a handsome frontage, and are listed as a building of special interest, embodying late Victorian civic concern for the promotion of cleanliness and fitness”.