Bradford’s mirror pool is set to reopen this weekend after being closed during the pandemic.
Engineers have been carrying out tests on Bradford’s City Park fountains in preparation for the return of the water feature for the summer.
The multi-award-winning public space has been closed during the pandemic to allow technicians to make repairs to the pump room which was badly flooded in 2019.
City Park opened in spring 2012 and quickly become one of the district’s top attractions, regularly attracting crowds, especially in hot weather.
The 4,000ft mirror pool is the largest urban water feature in the UK. It features over 100 illuminated fountains, the largest of which, rises to 30 metres in the air. The City Park has been given multiple awards, including the Royal Town Planning Institute Award, and the Urban Design Group’s Project of the Year Award.
Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “We are delighted that we are now in a position to restart the fountains in City Park.
“The repairs have been a complex task and COVID-19 has presented the technicians with additional challenges and has led to subsequent delays.
“We’re glad that we are able to welcome people back to enjoy the fountains in City Park, but COVID-19 hasn’t gone away and people should continue to remain cautious as case numbers are still high and rising rapidly.
“We want to encourage everyone to continue to give each other space, wear a face-covering in high-risk places, get tested and isolate if you are unwell, mix outside if possible or let air in indoors and to get both doses of the vaccine.”
Kersten England, chief executive of Bradford Council, visited the site at the beginning of the month when the pool was being tested by engineers. She said: “Woohoo the #Bradfordbeach is back in business!” and tagged City Park Bradford and May McQuade, a freelance creative producer, project manager and dancer in the tweet.
Woohoo the #Bradfordbeach is back in business! @CityParkBD With thanks @mcquade_may for capturing the moment in her celebration. 💦😊🌞💦 pic.twitter.com/0u33vqj4W1
— K England 💙 (@kersten_england) July 1, 2021
Despite being one of Bradford’s best free attractions that see families from all over the district flock to the fountain on warm days, the mirror pool hasn’t been without its issues in recent years.
A major flood occurred in the huge underground plant room that operates the pool’s fountains and regulates water levels in April 2019 that put the pool out of action until August of the same year.
Not expecting the global Coronavirus pandemic, Bradford Council announced in February last year that the pool would close for its first major refurbishment since 2012, lasting until April, just before the warm weather rolled around. With the onset of the pandemic in the following few weeks of the announcement, the works were paused until recently.
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