The future of Ripon’s historic Spa Baths has been secured, three years after the building was closed and a new swimming pool opened in the city. The Grade II listed building opened in 1905 and has seen generations of families learn to swim there. Now, after buying the building from North Yorkshire Council, the local Sterne family are to fund a £2million restoration project.
Sterne Properties will create hospitality led commercial units, four luxury apartments and a publicly accessible open courtyard on the site while restoring and retaining its original Edwardian frontage. Deputy leader, Cllr Gareth Dadd, who also has responsibility for finance and property, said: "Ripon's Spa Baths were the last of their kind to open in England and we wanted to be sure this listed building was preserved for the city. “Robert Sterne and his team have very exciting plans for the building which fits into our focus on the regeneration of our town and city centres and the repurposing of buildings.
“It will breathe new life into this historic building and into this area of the city as it brings new people into its hospitality units. I am looking forward to seeing the scheme come to fruition.” The building opened when Ripon saw the success Harrogate was enjoying as a spa town.
Spa water was pumped four miles from Aldfield with customers served from a basin in the elaborately tiled entrance hall. The swimming pool was added in the 1930s at the edge of the Spa Gardens. Sterne Properties mana.