A VANDAL-HIT swimming pool which has lain derelict for 11 years could be demolished to make way for a £3m community centre - if people power wins the day.
Residents have formed a regeneration group to kickstart the proposed development in a Glasgow's Netherton, near Anniesland.
They hope to take the dilapidated pool out of the hands of owners Glasgow City Council and run a new facility under community ownership.
The group has £9000 to consult people living in the area about what kind of facility they want in place of Temple Swimming Pool on Knightscliffe Avenue.
Built in the 1960s, the pool was shut in 1997 by the council, which claimed it was underused. It was closed off with shutters and metal doors to make it wind and water tight.
But the building has become a target for vandals and firebugs and residents say it is now a, dangerous, eyesore.
Joe Barr, chairman of Netherton Community Regeneration Group, is aiming to have architects in place within the year to start drawing up plans for a new-build.
Mr Barr, 55, who lives in Netherton, said: "We are only working with ballpark figures at the moment but £3m is a conservative estimate to build a new community centre.
"Youths have been climbing over the pool and setting it on fire.
"Over the last two to three years we've noticed that it'ss getting to the point where the building is dangerous and unsound.
"Something has to be done now and that's why we're pushing for a new facility.
"Community ownership would allow us to access more funding."
The regeneration group, made up of members of North Temple Community Council as well as other interested groups and the city council, believe young people in Temple, Anniesland, Knightswood South and Blairdardie would especially benefit from a new sports hall.
Paul Smith is project leader of Temple Shafton Youth Project - which provides activities for around 160 young people every week - in The Hut, a separate building next to Temple pool.
The Hut - which has a timber frame - was set on fire in November and had to have its entire back wall replaced at a cost of £12,000.
Mr Smith, 48, also a member of Netherton Community Regeneration Group, said: "We want to start up an under-10 football team next year but the facilities we've got in The Hut aren't good enough.
"It's too small and is almost falling down. We're desperate for a new building."
Anniesland councillor Jonathan Findlay believes community ownership could work but said Culture and Sport Glasgow, the arms-length trust which runs the city's leisure facilities, had to take a more active role.
He said: "I think in the interim it would be helpful if the council led the way in producing a feasibility study into the running of a new centre."

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "A group of interested parties are considering the merits of a feasibility study into the future of the pool but it should be noted that discussions are at a very early stage."