William Street City Baths opens this week in Derry with full opening due in January

The popular facility, the oldest of its kind in the Council area and located in William Street in the heart of the Bogside, has been closed since the pandemic to allow for essential maintenance and health and safety works to be carried out.

This week however regular users of the facility were treated to a special pre-Christmas preview and trial of the facility with a limited number of sessions and services being made available ahead of the full programme becoming available in January 2024.

The building, first built in 1959, has been a stalwart in the history of the city and a popular leisure facility for generations of families. With people from Derry and the surrounding areas of Donegal and the wider Northwest all travelling to learn to swim there.

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council Cllr Patricia Logue said the City Baths is very close to her heart having lived close to it all her life. She said she is delighted that a soft opening to allow key user groups to give their feedback on the facilities ahead of all the programming and activities coming available in January.

She said the reopening of the City Baths to the public marks a very important milestone for the local community and regular users of the leisure facility.

She said: “This is a very special occasion for me personally and for the entire local community who have a very close affiliation with the City Baths. This is first and foremost a community facility that is used and loved by all ages. It is the heart of the community and to see its doors open again is good news for everyone. I am delighted to see the essential maintenance and health and safety works as well as some cosmetic works, have been completed.

“This marks a significant investment by the Council and marks its commitment not only to leisure provision here in the City but also its objective to promote health and well-being across the entire Council area by making facilities and programmes available.”

The City Baths is currently only open from 10 am to 6pm in the run up to Christmas but will open fully to the public from 08 January 2024, six days per week on a three-month trial basis, Monday to Friday from 10am to 9pm, from 10am to 4pm on Saturdays and closed on a Sunday.

A pricing schedule has been agreed that includes an adult swim for £2.50 peak/£1.90 off peak; junior swim £1.90 peak/£1.45 off peak while over 65-year-olds and under 5s can swim for free. The health suite is available for use for £4 peak and £3 off peak with over 65’s once again invited to use it for free.

Facility hire at the centre costs £12 an hour for the activity room and pool hire at £30 an hour for the main pool and £20 per hour for the learner pool.

Karen McFarland, Director of Health and Community with Derry City and Strabane District Council said leisure prices across this Council area are the cheapest in comparison to other Councils with a focus on encouraging as many people as possible to get active and involved in sports and leisure activities and wellbeing programmes.

She said the completion of the maintenance and health and safety programme of works at the City Baths had been a challenging process due to the age and complexity of the building and rising costs around construction, but she was confident user groups, and the local community will be pleased with the works completed.

She said: “We are delighted to be working with our key partners City of Derry Swimming Club to recommence their popular swimming schedule of training and are excited to be welcoming back all of our regular users again. We will be actively promoting the leisure offering at the City Baths to the local community to get as many new individuals as possible, families and user groups to join up. As part of our introductory opening, we will be offering a range of yoga, Pilates and breath work classes in addition to our extensive swimming schedule.”

For further details about City Baths and what is on offer visit – www.derrystrabane.com/leisure