The Tepid Baths are historical indoor public pools in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Built in 1914 on the previous site of a small drydock, it quickly met great public approval, with 30,000 visitors in the first two months. Until mid 2012, the baths are closed for a major restoration.

History

The Tepid Baths was originally leased from the Auckland Harbour Board, and contain two separate pools, a "male" (25 m, 6 lanes) and "female" (18 m, 4 lane). The "male" pool was the largest in New Zealand at the time. The pools were heated with hot water from the nearby tramways power plant, the system being considered an engineering masterpiece of its time.

The pools were not only extensively used for both recreational and competitive swimming, but also for some other uses - in one event, a pentecostal minister baptised a hundred new faithful in the pools (in about 1931). Two sports champions were Custodians at the Tepid Baths, swimmer Malcolm Champion

Malcolm Champion

Malcolm Eadie Champion was New Zealand's first Olympic gold medallist, and the first swimmer to represent New Zealand at an Olympic Games...

 (who frequently swam across the harbour to his North Shore home) and runner Billy Savidan

Billy Savidan

John William Savidan nicknamed "Billy", "Bill" or "Jack" was a New Zealand long distance runner from 1926.He was born in Auckland....

.

In 1974, the salt water pools (previously fed from the Waitemata Harbour

Waitemata Harbour

The quite famous Waitemata Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is only one of two harbours surrounding the city, and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The Waitemata forms the north...

) were transformed into fresh water pools, primarily for maintenance reasons. The facility was refurbished in 1986 and again after the YMCA

YMCA

The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

 received the management lease in 1997 from Auckland City Council

Auckland City Council

Auckland City Council was the local government authority representing Auckland City, New Zealand, and was amalgamated into the Auckland Council on 1 November 2010. It was an elected body representing the 404,658 residents of the city...

. Renovations include new sauna and steam room, and a gym on the upper level (YMCA club members only). Nowadays, a large part of the Tepid Baths' customers are people working in the Auckland CBD who swim here before or after work.

In November 2009 it was announced that the Tepid Baths are to close for a period of up to four years for a $12 million restoration project to address structural issues excacerbated by the saltwater effects on the structure. It was hoped the pool will be open again for its 100th anniversary in 2014. The baths closed on 18 April 2010, while the Y-Fitness Centre had already moved to new purpose-built facilities at the ANZ Centre in Albert Street. While the restoration costs rose later to approximately $16 million, the close is now expected to last only to June 2012.

External links

• Tepid Baths (from the YMCA
  YMCA
  The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
  
  website)