Old swimming pool building still in need of an assessment

The old Clondalkin swimming pool building located beside the village’s leisure centre is still in need of an assessment before any works can be carried out.

The old swimming pool building has been the subject of calls from several local community groups in the area who are on the lookout for space.

The requests for the building to be used by these groups are being reviewed by the local authority within the context of the local area plan.

Councillor Francis Timmons said that multiple groups are interested in making use of the space if it is made available to them.

Cllr Timmons said: “The leisure centre are interested in using the building to extend the leisure facilities.

“And we also, as we all know, have several groups, namely the Youth Band and the Pipe Band and the drama group and all these other groups.

“There’s so many groups that are looking for a home, so there will be no shortage of tenants in the building or groups in the building.”

The council stated that they need architects to be assigned to the project and an assessment to be carried out to see what works are required and what new life the space would suit best.

Calls for the building once dubbed ‘the baths’ to be restored from a state of disrepair and returned to public use have been heard for over a decade.

Locals have taken to using the walls of the old pool for graffiti, with the street art being the most life the building has seen since its closure.

Plans to redevelop other buildings, such as the Clondalkin Civic Centre will have an effect on how the old swimming pool building in the village is repurposed.

If the Civic Centre is redeveloped into a community space such as the ones sought by local groups, then the council will have that in mind when approaching the old swimming pool project.

The project has been described as long-term by the local authority in past years and little headway has been made.

South Dublin County Council’s Senior Executive Officer for Community and Sports Development Edel Clancy noted that a timeline is unable to be provided for the project with no architect currently assigned but a date will become clearer once steps forward are taken.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.