Victoria Baths 3428915 226089143 2008-07-16T19:50:42Z BakuMatt 5628947 [[Image:VictoriaBaths.jpg|thumb|Victoria Baths, Manchester]] '''Victoria Baths''' is a [[Grade II* listed building]], situated on the edges of the [[Longsight]], [[Ardwick]] and [[Rusholme]] areas of [[Manchester]], in northwest [[England]]. It was designed by the City Surveyor T. de Courcy Meade and his assistant Arthur Davies and the work supervised by[[Henry_Price_%28architect%29 | Henry Price]] the newly appointed city architect and opened in 1906 by the [[Manchester Corporation]]. For 86 years the Baths provided both essential and leisure facilities. Private baths and a [[laundry]] were housed there along with three [[swimming pool]]s and a [[Turkish bath]]. The main swimming pool was floored over in the winter months to hold dances. In 1952 the Victoria Baths installed the first public [[Aeratone]] ([[jacuzzi]]) in the country. In the design and construction of the Baths, a great deal of money was expended, Manchester having at that time one of the world's wealthiest municipal coffers. The façade has multi-coloured brickwork and [[Architectural terracotta|terracotta]] decoration, the main interior public spaces are clad in glazed tiles from floor to ceiling and most of the many windows have decorative [[stained glass]]. The Baths were closed by [[Manchester City Council]] in 1993. The [[Friends of Victoria Baths]] was formed and began to investigate the possibility of running the Victoria Baths independently. Various fund-raising attempts failed to bring about a restoration of the Baths, although work to prevent the further [[abandonment|dereliction]] of the building started in 1998. In 2003, the Baths were the winner of the first series of [[BBC 2]]'s ''[[Restoration (television)|Restoration]]'' programme, chosen by a public phone-vote from a short-list of ten buildings in danger of dereliction in the UK. It was awarded £3.5 million from the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]] and the money raised through the phone-voting process. However, bureaucratic and technical hurdles meant that the money raised could not be spent immediately, and final [[planning permission|planning]] approval to begin a restoration process was not received until September 2005. The first phase of Restoration work at Victoria Baths started on Monday 19th March 2007. The Victoria Baths were host to the [[Sonic Arts Network]]'s ''Expo 2006 Manchester'' festival. The baths were taken over with a curated programme of sound installation, sonic intervention and performance especially for the venue. ==See also== *[[Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester]] ==External links== *Official website: http://www.victoriabaths.org.uk *BBC ''Restoration'' website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/restoration *Pictures of Victoria Baths: http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ewm/001ewm/038_vicbaths/ *Photos of Victoria Baths: http://y2u.co.uk/&002_Images/Victoria%20Baths%2001.htm *Sonic Arts Network: http://www.sonicartsnetwork.org *Recent art even held at the baths http://www.interval.org.uk/index2.html *{{EHbarName|Victoria+Baths}} {{coor title dms|53|27|36|N|2|12|59|W|type:landmark_scale:1000_region:GB}} [[Category:1906 architecture]] [[Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Manchester]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Manchester]]