Reading's King's Meadow Baths takeover is agreed
The takeover of a dilapidated Grade II-listed lido in Reading has been approved.
Thames Lido Ltd is behind £3m plans to renovate King's Meadow Baths into a spa complex.
The borough council's policy committee approved a 250-year lease to the company at a meeting on Monday.
The spa proposals have not yet been submitted to the authority but it has already granted permission for emergency interim repair work.
Arne Ringner, from Thames Lido Ltd, said the work would include roof repairs and installing temporary guttering to protect the building from further deterioration.
The granted lease is for a swimming pool with associated restaurant and cafe, the council report said.
It added this could be broken anytime after 10 years, with 12 months' notice.
Mr Ringner said a planning application for the spa proposals was likely to be submitted to Reading Borough Council in the next three weeks.
In October, the council selected the plans as its preferred choice for the renovation of the baths.
The Grade II-listed 1902 lido has not been in public use since 1974.
In 2009, the council gave community group King's Meadow Campaign two years to raise the funds needed to renovate the pool.
It endeavoured to raise the £1.5m needed but only managed £10,000 in two years.