A LONG-LOST swimming stadium that once hosted a Miss World contest is set to be excavated after more than half a century.
The site of the “Super Swimming Stadium” in Morecambe is set to undergo a £100million excavation plan under the Eden Project.
AlamyMorecambe Bay’s long-lost swimming lido is set to undergo excavation[/caption]
Grimshaw GlobalThe ambitious project will aim to excavate the site and make it a ‘major new attraction’[/caption]
edenproject.comEden Project are working in the space which was once home to Europe’s largest outdoor pool[/caption]
edenproject.comThe original pool was built on the site of TW Ward Ltd’s shipbreaking yard[/caption]
Grimshaw GlobalIt is inspired by the ‘natural geometries, beauty and efficiency of seashells’[/caption]
The “spectacular” venue – measuring 396ft by 110ft – is believed to have been the largest outdoor swimming pool in Europe when it opened in 1936.
It is said to have been built as a “grand gesture” to outdo Blackpool‘s huge neo-classical South Shore Swimming Coliseum of 1923 – another lost piece of Great Britain’s architecture.
Costing a reported £185,000 (over £13million today) and built on the site of TW Ward Ltd’s shipbreaking yard, at its peak the pool hosted around 27,000 swimmers over two days.
Facilities on the site included a water polo area, diving stage, three-deck promenade, sun terrace and cafe.
Even after World War Two, the site played host to national and international swimming and aquatic events, including the Miss Great Britain and Miss World beauty contests.
However, it was demolished a year following its closure in 1975 after falling into disrepair.
But now the site is being the subject of an ambitious excavation plan by the Eden Project, in partnership with Lancaster University, Lancaster City Council and Lancashire County Council.
The Cornwall-based charity group, who have projects across the UK and the world, said the plans were inspired by the “natural geometries, beauty and efficiency of seashells”.
BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK
It added the project would “house extraordinary living landscapes and immersive worlds inhabited by world-class art, performance, storytelling, interactive installations and play”.
On the task of excavating the site, Eden Project said: “For many years Morecambe has been one of Britain’s most popular tourist destinations with visitors attracted to its stunning natural landscape.
“Eden Project Morecambe, a major new attraction, re-imagines Morecambe as a seaside resort for the 21st Century, inspiring wonder and a connection with the natural world drawing on the Eden Project’s focus on education, ecology and community.”
Oli Marshall, from architecture charity Twentieth Century Society, said the stadium – opened by the governor of the Bank of England, Sir Josiah Stamp – was “almost in a different league to other surviving lidos we have in terms of scale and ambition”.
As quoted by the BBC, he added the lost lido was “more of a stadium than an outdoor pool, accommodating some 1,200 bathers and 3000 spectators”.
Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
