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Search forBristol's newly-restored lido filled for opening next week
Thursday, November 20, 2008, 14:41
And they are all passing through this single hosepipe, pictured in the hand of the pool's owner, Arne Ringner.
The 48-hour operation will be completed tomorrow – just in time for a party to celebrate the lido's reopening, though Mr Ringner admitted the standard builders' hosepipe was not the quickest way to fill the pool.
"We could have used a bigger water supply, but we didn't have the connection available," he told the Bristol Evening Post.
Tonight's party – for staff and guests of Reach, the agency involved in some of the lido project's design – is private.
But from Saturday, the bar is open to the public. From Monday, the restaurant, spa and treatment facilities will also be open.
It will probably be another week before the outdoor pool – heated by solar panels – is warm enough for use.
"The pool is not hot enough yet," said Mr Ringner.
"Hopefully, it will be ready, with the temperature reaching 27 or 28 degrees Centigrade by the end of next week."
Solar panels are among the green initiatives installed in the 150-year-old Grade II listed Lido.
It is intended to be a model of energy efficiency following its two-year restoration.
There are 300sq m of evacuated tube solar panels mounted on the south-facing roof of the terrace, which will heat the outdoor pool and the showers.
A gas boiler will supplement the panels during the winter.
The buildings are super-insulated and double-glazed and ambient heat pumps will extract warm air from the south-facing terrace restaurant, cafe and kitchen and redistribute the heat.
After its peak popularity in the 1930s, the lido entered a long period of decline and closed in 1990.
The council was reluctant to spend the money needed to repair the leaking pool and rotting buildings and it came close to being demolished to make way for other developments until campaigners managed to get it Grade II listed.
The lido offers sauna, steam rooms and an outdoor hot tub. The spa has six therapy rooms, with sessions priced from £30 to £60.
Membership of the Bristol lido will cost £450 a year (with one slot each afternoon for non-members) and many of the 1,000 places have been sold.
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