Spring Hill Baths were designed by Thomas Kirk and built from 1886
to 1913 by William M Park. It is also known as Arthur Street City Baths
and Municipal Baths at Spring Hill.
One of the principal reasons
for establishing the Arthur Street (now Torrington Street) bath was its
location above the Spring Hollow (Water Street) drain, installed in
1884, the waste water from the baths providing a daily cleanse. River
water from Petrie Bight was pumped to a small reservoir at the top
end of Albert Street, then gravity fed down Spring Hill to the Hollow,
where it was stored in holding tanks (now boarded over) at the far end
of the baths. Each evening the pool was drained and every morning the
water was replenished in a process lasting several hours. This system of
flushing the Spring Hill drain was employed for three-quarters of a
century.
Not until 1914 did
the city council install a salt-water supply scheme to which the baths
were linked. As the Brisbane River grew more polluted, chemicals were
added to the pool water, and finally a filtration system was installed
in 1961.
Sketches done in my A4 Sketchbook pen and watercolour
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