The Dun Laoghaire Baths will finally reopen this month, four-and-a-half years after redevelopment works began, with the local authority sending out invitations to the official opening on Tuesday 13 December.
The project has been a long time coming, with works originally set to be completed a year ago, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.
However “COVID and other site factors” set back these final works and pushed its opening date, initially to spring this year before it was again delayed to August and then October.
The multi-million-euro project included refurbishment of the existing Baths Pavilion, constructing a new jetty to give easy access to the water for swimming and the creation of a new route between Newtownsmith and the East Pier. It also features a statue of Roger Casement that was installed in September last year.
Locals have been eagerly awaiting the opening date since works began on the site in June 2018.
And while the ‘baths’ in the title are in name only, in reference to its past as a bathing place from the Victorian era till the late 1990s, it’s hoped to provide a different kind of amenity on the waterfront — particularly when the pavilion café opens next spring.
