The campaign to save the historic Jacobs Wells Baths has taken a twist at the 11th hour after Bristol City Council placed it on a list of buildings it wants to sell off. Two bidders – community arts organisation Trinity Bristol and Bristol Historic Buildings – have until today (Friday, June 30) to submit proposals to breathe new life into the Grade II-listed property, which was used as a community and dance hub for 35 years until its closure in 2016.
But a report going to cabinet on Tuesday, July 4, includes the building with six others that the local authority intends to put on the open market. However, the report says: “The inclusion of Jacobs Wells Baths on this list does not preclude the Community Asset Transfer process (which runs until the end of June) concluding.”
The council put out a call in March for someone to restore the run-down property, two months after leisure group Fusion scrapped an £8million project to rejuvenate it as a leisure, dance, arts and community centre. In a blog post at the time, deputy mayor Cllr Craig Cheney (Labour, Hillfields) said Jacobs Wells Baths had been removed from the list of other council-owned buildings to be sold off, as the next steps were considered.
