AN art deco municipal swimming pool in Cromwell Road, a Victorian colonnade in Parliament Street, and a beautiful covered market. Come along to Explore York Central Library in Museum Street this weekend and you’ll be able to see plans for a York that never was.

Archivists from Explore, helped by a team of volunteers, have spent 13 months combing through and cataloguing thousands of architect’s and engineer’s plans from the city archives dating back as far as the early 1800s.

They discovered a treasure trove of plans and proposals for buildings that were never actually built, such as that Victorian colonnade and the Cromwell Road swimming pool, which was scrapped when the Second World War broke out.

There were other schemes that York residents today might be glad never saw the light of day, says archivist Julie-Anne Vickers - such as a large 1960s block on Museum Street. “So there were some ideas that people today would have loved, and others that they may be relieved never happened!” Julie-Anne said.

Examples of all these plans and drawings will be on show in the ‘On The Drawing Board’ exhibition in three rooms at York library this weekend only, from 10am-4pm tomorrow and 11am-3pm on Sunday.

The exhibition will also include some of the original designs for buildings that were built but have since been lost, such as the City of York Electric Lighting Station, and for some familiar buildings which still stand today. The display marks the formal opening of the newly-catalogued ‘On The Drawing Board’ archive to members of the public. In future, you will be able to view drawings and designs in the archive on request in the reading room on the first floor of the central library.