Public swimming baths. Something of a local issue in my old hometown of Bridgwater in Somerset. I grew up with a huge outdoor lido with three pools and a high diving platform. Ok it was built in 1960 as a replacement for the Victorian baths but it was awesome. The council sold the land to Safeway in 1990 and bulldozed the site to build a shopping centre, replacing the lido with a single 'theme' type pool in an open glass house type building. It had slides and rapids but no soul, and was known for the paedophiles drilling holes in toilet doors. This has also recently been pulled down to make way for a Tesco's. No replacement has been built, and those who wish to swim must travel 10 miles to the nearest pool. Was there any need to build supermarkets on these sites? No. Plenty of out of town areas for that. It could be argued that the Council simply wanted some income from the land and jobs from the stores rather than a pool that drains resources. What they miss (and missed when the original baths were pulled down) is that these recreation facilities are what makes a community. It gives kids something to do that does not involve breaking into JJB sports. The buildings themselves are heritage sites that give communities a sense of identity. When they are replaced by Tesco's and Morisson's what do you have left? A choice of similar prices and products and nothing to do.
The Swiss seem to understand this basic principle, that it is better to hold onto your heritage and encourage community spirit and recreation (rather than consumption) and their Victorian Volksbad is in fine fettle. Proof that such places can be renovated and restored and kept operational. Such a great little place, with real atmosphere and echos of the past all around - see the Gothic statue in the centre of the picture. Here such places persist while in the UK they are consigned to history, bulldozed by the unstoppable progress of the supermarket. More on this later...
