The Glenorchy City Council will table a report into the condition of the Glenorchy Memorial Pool at its meeting on Monday night.
Glenorchy Mayor Bec Thomas said the report was the catalyst for the council’s general manager to determine the pool needed to remain closed this coming season due to the identified issues, which included potential safety risks to users.
“Based on this report, there was no option but to keep the pool closed. We cannot risk the safety of the public or the people who staff the facility,” she said.
The report found multiple problems with the facility, some of which would need urgent rectification to make the pool safe for use. These included faults in the pool shell which was causing the pool to leak, structural issues with the concrete grandstand, an urgent requirement for the electrical switchboard to be upgraded and replaced, as well as major works for the chemical dosing area and complete refurbishment of toilets and changeroom areas.
“Like many such facilities around the country built in the 1960s, the pool has served its community extremely well over the last 60 years, but it has reached a point where it is deteriorating faster than it can be maintained and is no longer safe for the community to use,” Mayor Thomas said.
It is estimated the pool would require $30 million to be spent to rectify the issues and bring it to contemporary standards. It is currently costing Glenorchy ratepayers $400,000 a year to maintain. During its last six-month season, fewer than 100 people used the pool each day on average.
Mayor Thomas said she was engaging with the State and Federal Governments to determine whether the pool could be kept open.
“I have been up front that while we will consider our options, the scale of the work required is not something the Glenorchy City Council would be able to afford on our own.
“I understand that many people in our community have a strong connection to the pool as I do, not to mention its place in our city as a memorial facility.
“I grew up spending summers at the pool and have continued to use it as an adult. It is a reality though that these facilities have a lifespan, and we need to be certain we are making appropriate investment in our community facilities.
“This means considering not only the up-front cost of re-developed infrastructure, but also demand and ongoing financial sustainability and the whole-of-life asset cost.”
The agenda and attachments for the meeting can be viewed here