Bath Spa Plan Yields to Conservationists

It was classic David vs. Goliath stuff.

When the local council announced plans for a futuristic stone and glass spa that would allow bathers to wallow in Bath’s fabled restorative hot springs for the first time in nearly a quarter-century, most residents welcomed the idea.

Britain’s national lottery poured in money, members of the Bath and North East Somerset Council quickly approved the plans and, in September, the diggers moved onto the site in the city’s Georgian heart.

Bath’s prestige--and increasing prosperity as a tourist magnet--was riding on what the Daily Telegraph newspaper called “the most extraordinary project in local government.”

But in the middle of all the hoopla, the Springs Foundation--a local conservation group staffed by a handful of volunteers--objected that some of the excavations for the foundations went too deep and could wreck a fragile spa system that developed over millenniums.

On the eve of a High Court hearing in early November, the council agreed to amend excavation and allow engineers for the foundation to monitor building work.

“We’ve saved the springs for the future, and that is what matters,” said foundation spokeswoman Margaret Stewart. “The springs and their healing properties have been there for millions of years and are the very reason Bath exists. Damaging them would have been devastating for the city and its tourism industry.”

On a tour of the site, Bath Spa Project spokesman Giles White said the council accepted that it needed to jump through the proper hoops to keep the project going.

“Thirty million people walk up and down that street every year,” he said, gesturing to nearby Stall Street, which runs past the famous Pump Room, Roman Baths and Temple, a major archeological site that draws up to 1 million visitors annually. “Many will want to make the most of the spa, and that will be good for the city. We hope it will also encourage tourists to extend their visits here.”

The five-story spa, resembling a stone cube in a glass case and topped by an open-air pool, is expected to open in May 2002. It will be connected to the adjoining Hot Bath, one of Bath’s three hot springs, whose Georgian exterior will be restored.

The contract also covers the restoration of the nearby Cross Bath, which bubbles and steams inside the shell of another Georgian building.

The project probably will wind up costing close to $30 million. Some $11.5 million is being provided by Britain’s Millennium Commission with funds from the national lottery; the rest will come from local taxpayers.

The project’s director, Paul Simons, has conceded that despite the planned whopping entry fees, the vaunted facility actually will be “a loss leader for further investment that will come in behind it.”

The council says the project will create 380 new jobs and generate some $12 million a year in income for the city, one of 11 British spa towns.

The Cross Bath, the Hot Bath and the King’s Springs, which erupt in the Roman Baths complex, were granted to Bath residents by Queen Elizabeth I under a royal charter in the 16th century. The springs helped revive Bath’s fortunes after the decline of the cotton trade.

Archeological evidence shows people settled in Bath because of its springs as early as 8,000 years before Christ. The Romans were the first to build reservoirs around the springs, in the 1st century AD, adding a shrine to the goddess Sulis Minerva.

After the Roman occupation of Britain ended in the 4th century, the Romans’ baths and shrine fell into disuse, remaining hidden until 1790, when work began on what is now the Pump Room.

The popularity of the springs in the 18th century led to the redevelopment of Bath and construction of its elegant arcs of Georgian buildings.

Public bathing was stopped in 1978 after the state health service withdrew funds for a medical spa and a bather died of meningitis.

Some 300,000 gallons of thermal spring water bubble up daily in the center of Bath, which itself receives a total of 2.6 million visitors a year, 40% of them from overseas.

Enriched with sulfate, chloride, calcium, sodium hydrogen carbonate and silicate, the waters are considered beneficial for rheumatic and muscular disorders, skin ailments and respiratory problems.