THE opportunity for the town council to acquire the Blue Pool site has raised discussions about what could be done with the site and the surrounding buildings, with a museum and a lido amongst the suggestions.
The current owners, Wiltshire Council, have confirmed that they are open to negotiations for the site which formerly housed a swimming pool and gym, but was closed in July last year following the construction of the nearby campus.
Local residents, Howard Jones and Lisa Ellis, have put forward the idea of the Blue Pool being combined with the Assembly Hall, to form an entertainment/museum centre.
They suggested renovating the former Blue Pool to create a museum, exhibition and lecture area; and infilling the pool area to create parking. The Assembly Hall facilities would be retained, with improvements made.
At the asset and amenities meeting on Monday 5th June, cllr Graham Ellis put forward this idea as a plan, should the town council acquire the Blue Pool site. Members of the public spoke at the meeting in support of this idea and called on the council to explore all possible options.
One resident said, “It’s the best news that I’ve heard in an extremely long time, that this is a possibility.”
Speaking in support of the site potentially housing a museum for Melksham, Lisa Ellis said, “There is so much indication that Melksham brings in tourists because of its history and not only because of its magnificent history. This town has immense historic importance that I think the people of Melksham, who are living here today, have no idea about.
“Let’s tell the world the history of Melksham and be proud of it.”
Cold-water lido
Cllr Sue Mortimer said she is looking into the possibility of a cold-water lido at the site following a suggestion from another resident.
She told the Melksham News, “It does bring back childhood memories of when the Blue Pool was an outdoor pool – like many other children, under the watchful eye of Alfie Sparks, I practically lived there during every school summer holiday.
“For anything like this to happen in Melksham, voters would need to be keen to set up and take a visible and long-term community lead on this.” Researching this idea, she explained that she has attended Shaftesbury lido and had a meeting with their council to discuss how it is run.
Adventurous thinking needed
Cllr Jon Hubbard suggested that the town council look at all the council-owned assets in that location including the Assembly Hall, the Town Hall and the former Arthouse Café building.
He said, “This is a much better opportunity for this town, in my opinion, than starting from scratch elsewhere.
“We need to be adventurous in our thinking. We need to think about all of the options.”
Councillors agreed that it would be important to consider all possible options for the site and were keen to use the expertise of people in the community to help with this, which would include the Melksham Assembly Hall working group.
Councillors agreed to bring suggestions forward for discussion at the next full town council meeting.
