The St Kilda Sea Baths is a pool, spa, food and entertainment complex on St Kilda Beach, Victoria, Australia. Numerous 'sea bath' structures have come and gone on the St Kilda foreshore, the last built in a Spanish-Moorish style in 1931, which was demolished in the 1990s and replaced by the present structure, partly reconstructing the 1931 baths.[1]
Until the 1850s in Victoria, 'open' sea bathing, that is in the open sea, was not generally considered acceptable. It was, however, permitted within large timber structures as protection from predatory marine life and away from public view. As the seaside suburb of Melbourne that was popular with the wealthy and the easiest to reach, the St Kilda beach area became a place of resort for the city. The first formal St Kilda bathing establishment was Captain Kenny's baths opened in 1854 with a fenced enclosure and facilities in a beached ship some way out in the water, which provided separate sections for men and women. This was joined by purpose built structures, Hegarty’s Railway Baths in 1858, and in 1860 by the Corporation Baths, the latter with an enclosure of 234m by 61m.[1] In 1906 a new company replaced Hegarty's baths with a grand new structure topped by a large dome housing expanded facilities.[2]
In 1917 open sea bathing was made legal, and by the mid 1920s, increasing numbers of people were bathing in the open sea in St Kilda, where they could also find attractions such as dance halls, cinemas and tea rooms. By 1928 'mixed' bathing, that is men and women mingling freely in the water, was increasingly popular, and St Kilda Council erected three changing pavilions along its foreshore: at West St Kilda, St Kilda Beach, and Elwood (demolished in 1971). By then only the domed sea baths was still operating, and it was destroyed by fire on 19 November 1925.[3] Eventually the City of St Kilda decided to build a grand new structure, with adjoining mens and womens bath, and a range of facilities including a nightclub in the head building on the foreshore, designed by the City's engineering department in an exotic style including Moorish domes and Spanish arches, which opened in 1931.[1]
The beach changing pavilions however proved more popular than the sea baths, with crowds flocking to beach in the summer months.[1] In the 1940s, artist Sidney Nolan painted a series of images of bathers on a platform in the sea, which are thought to depict teh St Kilda Sea Baths.[4]
By the 1950s, the timber mens enclosure sea baths had deteriorated, and was demolished, with the womens following in the early 1980s.[1] The main building with its 'hot sea baths' and nightclub remained in operation in a suburb that had declined in reputation, but was still a popular resort. In 1993 the baths were finally closed pending a redevelopment. Council sought various partners and designs amid controversy, with the current building finally decided, and completed in c2000.[1]
Due to its condition, the remains of the building were completely demolished, with only the domes retained, placed on a reconstruction of the twin-domed Moorish-style section, and a plainer section adjacent occupying the original footprint to the north. The complex includes numerous restaurants on two levels, function rooms, a courtyard between the Moorish domes, a health club, and a 25m public swimming pool, Australia's only indoor heated sea-water pool.
In 2017 a new controversy erupted when the leasee of the function rooms and the rooftop proposed to add a larger rooftop pavilion.[5]
The land on which the Sea Baths were built has remained Crown Land, managed by the Department of Lands and its successors (in 2018 this is the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning), in consultation with the local Council, currently the City of Port Phillip. Council has not always agreed with the decisions of the Department.[5] The complex is leased to an operator, who sub-lets the various tenancies. The pool, gym and spa have been leased since 2001 by South Pacific Health Clubs.