Chatter about the reopening of Bon Accord Baths has surfaced again – the team at Bon Accord Heritage has worked incredibly hard to put the thought of the ‘Uptown Baths’ welcoming swimmers back on to Aberdeen’s agenda.
At a time where our city centre desperately needs investment, so as to become more inviting to those both in and out of the city, it is an intriguing project. Undoubtedly it would be wonderful to see one of the more unique buildings in our city brought back into use.
At the weekend I had the opportunity to see the baths used for a much different purpose – a performance during Aberdeen Jazz Festival.
Violinist Victoria Fifield playing Echoes of Brighter Days and Mikey Owers, appearing more ear than man, bright red tuba lining perched on his shoulder by the end, pulling out the big brasses, trombones and trumpets, for 3ft Deep and Descending.
Both pieces were written in response to the surroundings of the somewhat derelict, but charming, art deco pool.
Programme notes from Mikey’s piece state ‘I felt the pull of vertigo down into the deep end of the pool, which, when drained of water, reveals its truly terrifying depths’.
The performances were truly moving, both because of nimble fingers and the setting to which they spoke.
Wondering if Bon Accord Baths could make a splash again
I’ve seen a lot of gigs in Aberdeen over the years, more traditionally in Music Hall and Lemon Tree, or Tunnels. More unusually in our legal libraries, or even in a shipping container in Torry, but nothing quite like this.
I’ve been to gigs over the years that have been, for the want of a better word, poorly-attended. Often the lack of people lends itself to a more intimate experience. You and the performer, a handful of others, all aboard and listening. Here however, in this huge space, the absence of others truly resonates.
The last few days have been brilliant and very surreal. @SaveBonAccBaths #aberdeenjazzfestival https://t.co/CGij8u9z9i
— Michael Owers (@MichaelOwers) March 27, 2022
The capacity of the gig was limited of course because this is a building which is, the remarkable work of the heritage team aside, still in a state of considerable disrepair. Pools have a noticeably different acoustic experience on the ear. Splashing and shouting is sharp; leisure is LOUD. But here, only Victoria and Mikey, their notes, instruments and the silence and echoes in between.
So I sat in this space after the performance and wondered what it would be like for there to be again the buzz of people in that pool. There have been indications this week that there may be some support at the City Council for the restoration of Bon Accord Baths. I hope that we may see a day where it becomes an option once again.
I can’t remember if I had visited the Bon Accord Baths before. Sadly it had closed within a short while of my moving to Aberdeen and I don’t recall if I was there as a bairn, more often being at the beach leisure centre. I was certainly at the Odeon further along the road, funnily enough built by Poole’s Theatres slightly before the actual pool was constructed. The baths have a feeling of immediate familiarity to me, even through the chilliness and peeling paint.
Cinematic quality to the baths
It’s hard to shake the feeling that ultimately I feel a connection to Bon Accord Baths because it has something of the ‘cinematic’ about it. Once upon a time I had a conversation with a tutor at Gray’s School of Art about what the word ‘cinematic’ meant in photography, either moving or still.
Here in the baths you feel the pull undoubtedly as the building was brought up in a style, at a time, when so too were many of our cinemas. Many of them too now stand empty, or in some cases don’t stand at all.
Looking over my shoulder, above the clock at the shallow end as I exited after the Jazz Festival performance, looking down at the symmetry of the tiles and the stands and glistening reflection from the ceramic, it’s hard not to think of something from a Stanley Kubrick film, or Paul Thomas Anderson, directors who loved cinema, and cinemas.
In Iceland, a country I visited many times pre-pandemic, community swimming pools form an important part of the culture – meeting spaces rather than simply places to exercise. There’s also a prevalence of buildings in a style not so dissimilar to Bon Accord Baths – the Einar Jonsson Museum and The National Theatre of Iceland spring to mind.
Reykjavik is a fantastically community-orientated city. So too is Aberdeen. The opportunity to bring back a central, accessible space of culture and leisure, in a beautiful setting, is one we should grab with both hands.
Colin Farquhar is head of cinema operations for Belmont Filmhouse in Aberdeen
