Current condition of closed Oasis pool revealed as TikTokers 'explore'
The Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon has been closed since November 2020, after Better shut the site during the Covid-19 pandemic and then later handed the keys back to leaseholder Seven Capital, claiming it was impossible to make enough profit.
On Saturday, July 19, a group of urban explorers entered the empty leisure centre and began live streaming to hundreds on TikTok from the account urban.xplores, which boasts 13,000 followers.
Now a new video, shared by tress.pass.south on TikTok, has given an inside tour of how the Oasis currently looks.
It comes just days after Swindon Borough Council approved plans to rebuild the Oasis without a sports hall.
TikTok footage shows inside the Oasis (Image: tress.pass.south)
(Image: tress.pass.south)
The decision now gives the faintest of hopes that the centre might be open at some point in 2026, 50 years since it was opened.
However, the council's planning committee then went on to refuse permission for 700 flats on the site, which could be crucial to the funding of the leisure centre refurbishment.
Urban explorer footage of the site shows a drained pool with some dirt and debris scattered across the ground.
When asked how they entered the site, a spokesperson for the TikTok account said: "It took hours and was very sketchy."
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Old water slides 'Storm', 'Great white' and 'Sidewinder' have faded in colour and graffiti is visible on the walls, suggesting these urban explorers aren't the first to have entered the site since it closed.
Urban explorers have confirmed entry to the site was 'sketchy' (Image: tress.pass.south)
Nostalgic comments left under the video state: "This was my childhood" and "I can hear the sounds and everything."
Another added: "My childhood and my children's is there. Shame it's closed."
For those who have spent years campaigning for the reopening of the leisure centre, the 'behind-the-scenes tour' was not welcomed.
Taking to X, a spokesperson for the Save Oasis Swindon campaign group said: "Someone's live inside the Oasis. Presumably Seven Capital aren't bothering with security at the moment?"
Urban exploring, which is defined as the exploration of manmade structures that are typically abandoned or inaccessible to the public, is not in itself a crime. It only becomes a criminal offence if damage is caused to property or items are taken.
A Wiltshire Police spokesperson, previously commenting on urban exploring, said: "Our advice to these people would be to stay out of these structures because if they injure themselves, it could be hours or even days before help arrives.
"If something does happen, it also puts the lives of those people in the emergency services at risk when they have to rescue these people as well."
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