Planning permission for Stirchley Baths project: report in the Birmingham Mail

The Birmingham Mail has reported on planning permission being granted for the Stirchley Baths community hub.

Birmingham City Council’s planning committee unanimously approved the plans on 21st March. You can read reporter Paul Suart’s article HERE.

The article mentions that the project now depends on funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Our Stage 2 bid will be submitted in June, with a decision from the HLF in September. A ‘yes’ will see building work getting under way in November, with the new community hub planned to open in November 2014.

Karen Cheney on the Stirchley Baths community hub project

Karen Cheney

Karen Cheney is the Service Integration Head for Selly Oak District, based at the district offices in Pershore Road.

Karen is heavily involved in the project to bring the building back into use as a community hub. She says it’s been a long and complicated process but that, with a successful Heritage Lottery Fund bid (we’ll get the decision in September), this exciting project will be up and running.

Karen also speaks in the interview of the importance of local people getting involved in the project – not just for the HLF bid but for the future sustainability of the community hub.

Taking a bath at Stirchley Baths in the 1950s

Brenda Hawksford

Brenda Hawksford used to bathe at Stirchley Baths.

“We were grateful for it,” she says. “There was no hot water in our house and it was a lot easier using the baths at Stirchley than getting the tin one out at home and heating the water up for that. Much easier.”

listen to ‘Brenda Hawksford on taking a bath at Stirchley Baths in the 1950s’ on audioBoom

What should the Stirchley Baths community hub be called?

As you’re hopefully aware by now, the vision for Stirchley Baths is to transform the building into a community hub with meeting rooms, community spaces, hall, cinema and more (you can have a look at the plans – which were granted planning permission last week – HERE).

The term ‘community hub’, however, is only a working title and doesn’t say anything about the building’s heritage or history.

So what should it be called when – if the Heritage Lottery Fund bid is successful – the new facility opens in October/November 2014?

We posed this very question on Twitter and Facebook recently and got these ideas:

Stirchley Baths Centre (@edsmyth76 on Twitter)

Community Life Centre (@Clueless_Morgan)

Stirchley Community Centre (@Stirchleyonline)

The Plug (!) – from Graeme Rose on Facebook

Someone on Twitter suggested – in the spirit of positivity and with a nod to the building’s aquatic heritage – The Half Full!

What do you think the community hub should be called? 

Send an email to stirchleybaths@gmail.com, pop it on our Facebook page here or tell us on Twitter using @stirchleybaths or #stirchleybaths. Or you can leave a comment on the website too.

Jean Wyatt: Dancing at Stirchley Baths in the 1950s

Jean Wyatt

Jean Wyatt went dancing at Stirchley Baths in the 1950s when the swimming pool was covered with boards – a great example of the building’s multiple uses in its history.

“You couldn’t believe you were dancing on top of all that water,” she says.

listen to ‘Jean Wyatt on dancing at Stirchley Baths’ on audioBoom