Newcastle City Baths

The Newcastle City Baths is a swimming and sports facility located in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is a Grade II listed building, with a Victorian-style Turkish baths.^[1]

Newcastle City Baths
Exterior of venue (c.2009)
54.9773°N 1.6107°W / 54.9773; -1.6107
Location	Northumberland Road Newcastle upon Tyne England, NE1 8SF
Opened	1927
Operated by	Fusion
Architect	Nicholas & Dixon-Spain
Status
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Northumberland Baths / City Hall
Designated	8 May 1992
Reference no.	1242013
Website	Venue Website
Facilities
Gym, swimming pool

History

The building was designed by Nicholas & Dixon-Spain and opened in 1927 as a part of a development which also included the adjacent Newcastle City Hall.^[2] The city baths formed the west side of the complex and, like the city hall, the design involved a tall portico with central Doric order columns between flanking antae with five square windows above.^[1]

In November 2012, Newcastle City Council announced that, as part of a wider cost-cutting process, the future of the City Hall and the adjacent City Baths was under review, with a number of options being considered including closure or handing over the venue to an external operator.^[3]

In April 2016 it was announced that the Fusion Lifestyle, a leisure charity, had taken over management of the venue^[4] and work commenced on a restoration programme at a cost of £7.5 million, which involved converting the main swimming pool into a gym area while a second, smaller pool, was retained for swimming.^[5] The gym and swimming pool re-opened to the public in January 2020.^[6][7]