Moseley Road Baths secures full funding to bring back its Gala Pool

For more than a century, Moseley Road Baths has been one of Birmingham's most remarkable buildings, and 2026 has brought some of the best news in its long history. In May the charity behind the baths announced that it had secured full funding for the second phase of restoration, including a £9.27 million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The baths on Moseley Road in Balsall Heath opened in 1907, designed by William Hale and Son alongside the neighbouring library. The building is Grade II* listed and still holds treasures such as its first-class Gala pool with a spectator gallery and rows of glazed brick changing cubicles.

Its survival owes a great deal to local people. The Friends of Moseley Road Baths formed in 2006, and when the city council earmarked the baths for closure in 2017, campaigners stepped up, forming a community organisation in 2018 to take on the site. In 2017 a coalition including Birmingham City Council, Historic England, the National Trust, the World Monuments Fund and the Friends came together to back a phased restoration.

The baths closed for swimming and other activities in October 2023 while major repairs got under way. Phase two, starting in 2027, includes a full restoration of the Gala Pool, a restored mezzanine gallery and a new accessible ground-floor viewing area. The roughly £16 million package for this phase also includes £5.1 million from Birmingham City Council, £1 million from the West Midlands Combined Authority's decarbonisation fund and support from the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Architectural Heritage Fund, the Edward Cadbury Trust and the Saintbury Trust.

Frank Jordan, executive director of city operations at Birmingham City Council, said: "Moseley Road Baths remains one of Birmingham's most cherished landmarks."

The plans go beyond swimming. A second pool is set to become a flexible event space, with a health and wellbeing hub, a gym and a studio in the former boiler room. Reopening is currently expected in late 2028.

The organisation is growing too. In October 2026 it announced Amit Dattani as its first chief executive, a new chapter for a project that has been driven by volunteers and community campaigners for so long.

Updates on the restoration, volunteering and events can be found on the Moseley Road Baths website.