NEW THORNDON BATHS

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 192, 9 May 1924, Page 6

NEW THORNDON BATHS

« TO BE READY IN A MONTH POOL OVERLOOKED BY BACK WINDOWS Faith has 'oeen kept with the Thorndon people by the City Council in the matter of baths. When, some four years ago, the old Thorndon sea-front baths were condemned for two reasons —because they stood, iu the way of the latest reclamation work, and were becoming insanitary owing to the accumulation of harbour flotsam and jetsam—it was agreed that North Wellington should not be deprived altogether of swimming facilities, and as the waterfront av that end of the town is impossible for swimming, it was decided that the best substitute was a fresh water swimming pool away from the harbour front altogether. For some time the council treated for the purchase of a 'clock of land on the corner of Tinakori Road and Park Street, thp site of the old Thorndon bowling green, but suitable terms could not bo arranged, bo another site was sought and found. ,At present there are possibly thousands of Thorndon residents not able to say where the new Thorndon baths are located, ao secluded and hidden is the big white-tiled pool. The new baths, which were visited bv the Mayor (Mr. R. A. Wright) yesterday. are located down a lane which branches off the eastern ride of Murphy .Street, at a point opposite Staples brewery. but as the whole of the structure is behind the residences on that side of the thoroughfare, no part of it is visible from the street. From the back windows of the houses mentioned, however, a full view of the baths, which are to be wide open to the heavens, may be obtained, and some, people are exercised on that account, but the Mayor states that there is no cause for any misapprehension in that regard, as the by-laws governing the baths provide for everyone who bathes being in approved bathing attire, such ax anyone might seo at Lyall or Day’s Bay on any summer’s day. Speaking to a Dominion reporter, the Mayor stated that the new baths, which have been built by Messrs. Hig gins and Arcus, will be completed in about four or five weeks. Originally they were to have been ready about the' end of February, but owing to the amount of excavating work being larger than anticipated an extension of time had to be granted the contractors.. A canital idea can now he gained of the pool and its appurtenances, as only finishing work requires to be attended to. The scum troughs and the apparatus for the filtration of the water before it is allowed to enter the bath is being landed from a steamer now in port, and these essentials to elean swimming water will be erected within the next week or two. Doors are being fitted to the cubicles on the western side of the pool, and the terraces for spectators on the eastern side are in order. The entrance will be at jthe northern end of the baths, clown the right-of-way from Murphy Street, and guiding signs will be erected to direct the public to the pool. As it will be the middle of winter by the time the baths are completed, the Mayor is deliberating whether it would not be wise to postpone the official opening until the beginning of next swimming season, instead of at the completion of the work.