Emptying London Fields’ leaking lido is easy — hiring the best contractor is not going swimmingly

Lido0416: London Fields Lido 260416 © DavidAltheer [at] gmail.com — Quiet: lanes have been less busy since Loving Dalston reported the lido’s imminent closure

REPAIRS TO London Fields Lido have got off to a bad start or, to be precise, no start. Days before the date, Wednesday 30 November 2016, scheduled for the pool’s closure, owner Hackney council has not appointed a contractor.

Tenderers have been told to be ready to start early next month December on essential work. But finding a contractor able to fix the decay of tiles and other problems that have developed over the 10 years since the heated open-air lido’s reopening has proved difficult. As recently as today Monday the council was yet to choose a firm.

The danger is that the 50-metre pool may be dry for longer than the council’s vaguely expressed “spring 2017” . Anyone who has ever hired builders to do even a small job will sympathise with the council, while worrying about a repeat of the negligence that closed the pool for almost 20 years.

LidolightsC: London Fields Lido floodlights switch-on 111214 © david.altheer@gmail.com — Wet nights: evening sessions started at London Fields Lido two years ago

Rumours sloshing around the communal poolside showers claim they may be moved inside the main building. At present they are great for socialisation, although few users go to the extent of the millennial who occasionally showers without her cossie.

Lido16closed: sign withinLondon Fields Lido Dalston E8 200816 © david.altheer@gmail.com — The sign that poolistas are dreading to see posted at the popular lido

Hackney’s lido webpage details no changes to showers.

The council and its pool operator, Better/GLL (Greenwich Leisure Ltd), have been accepting late comments on the proposed changes. Try emailing julie.simpson2@hackney.gov.uk

David Altheer 211116

* Customers will be able to swim at other Hackney council and Better/GLL-operated pools, including the London Aquatics Centre at the Olympic Park and the newly refurbished Charlton Lido; Clissold pool; Britannia pool; King’s Hall.

kingshall: Kings Hall Clapton Hackney 2011 © David Altheer — Never mind the absent apostrophe: Kings Hall

* Backstory: Hackney’s off-the-wall horror; Happy, smiling high-paid elite of Hackney Town Hall; Let us spray, says Hackney; Hackney pulls plug on Haggy Baths hopes; Hackney chronicler wades in to save baths; Investors flood in for pool; Hackney washes its hands of heritage site; London Fields Lido lights up; Wetsuits in Hackney lido; Swimming may return to the Haggy; London Fields hipster heaven costs council £140,000

* All pictures on this page © DavidAltheer [at] gmail.com, and all for sale for reproduction. Most photographs are available in bigger formats.

London Aquatics Centre at Stratford. designed by the late Zaha Hadid © David Altheer — The stunning Aquatics Centre at Stratford, London, designed by the late Zaha Hadid

* Emboldened underscored words in most cases indicate a hyperlink, a reader service rare among websites. If a link does not work, it is probably because the site to which the URL refers has not been maintained. A link in no way expresses support for any site.

This site welcomes fair comments, including the critical. They may be edited for grammatical, legal or taste reasons, or for shortening. In the unlikely event that anything defamatory is posted, the sender’s details may have to be divulged. (Under UK law, this applies to any comment/discussion forum, eg, Twitter.) RSS feed link is at top right. Twitter: @lovingdalston Publicists, amateur and professional, should read http://bit.ly/ZnClKc Also relevant may be the note at the end of http://bit.ly/117GXmi Photographs © David Altheer unless otherwise stated and apart from supplied pictures

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