Work starts to restore Doncaster's abandoned St James' Baths

Scaffolding has been erected around the building in Waterdale so repairs can be carried out on the dilapidated city centre building which closed to the public in 2013.

The Grade II listed building was shut after major structural faults deemed the building unsafe – with question marks about its future.

However, a number of bidders came forward with a view to taking over the building – which dates from 1932 – with work on its refurbishment now set to begin.

City of Doncaster Council’s Director of Corporate Resources, Debbie Hogg said: “We have been working with the preferred bidder for St James Baths for the past few months, with the aim of bringing the building back into use.

"As part of this we have enabled the preferred bidder to carry out work on the roof of the building, which is why the scaffolding has been erected.

"This work will help make the building watertight and more secure before the winter period and will also help towards developing a more detailed planning and listed building application for the proposed refurbishment of the building in the future.”

Last year it was reported that three serious parties were in the process of drawing up business proposals in order to take over the dilapidated building.

The three firms were all said to be leisure, fitness and spa-type companies which is in line with what the council wants the building to eventually become.

In 2022, a council source said: “The vision is that people could spend a full day hopping from the baths, cinema, Cast and the museum and library in one day – that would massively boost the city centre’s offer.”

In 2018, it suffered a roof collapse and interim repairs had to be made at the cost to the council for a flat roof over the Turkish baths.

In its earlier years, the pool was covered with a sprung maple floor enabling the hall to hold about 1,500 people, with The Beatles playing a gig there in the 1960s.

It also included Turkish baths in the basement with mosaic floor and wall tiling and a drinking fountain. The original baths remain largely as they were when built over 80 years ago.