Glenorchy City Council will decide the configuration of a redeveloped Glenorchy War Memorial Pool at its meeting next Monday afternoon.
Glenorchy Mayor Sue Hickey said Council had considered options for the final configuration of the pool presented by consultants MI Global Partners in an options assessment report.
“Three options have been presented to Council following extensive community consultation. Council will vote on one to be progressed to further design work to inform a business case as we seek funding to redevelop the facility in the long term.
“Through the recent elector poll the community told Council of its desires to retain the pool and redevelop it into a modern public pool facility.
“Community also called for Council to apply for future government funding for its redevelopment,” she said.
Mayor Hickey said the three shortlisted configurations included:
- A larger outdoor and indoor aquatic facility. This option would include an outdoor 50m pool, an indoor 25m lap pool, an indoor 20m warm water learn to swim/program pool, a wellness hall (including spa, sauna, and steam facility), a leisure/toddler pool and café.
- A multi-use facility with outdoor pool and indoor sports courts. This option would include an outdoor 25m pool, indoor 20m warm water learn to swim/program pool, wellness hall (including spa, sauna, and steam facility), two indoor multi-use sports courts, gym and café.
- An indoor aquatic facility with semi open-air pool functionality. This option would include an indoor 50m pool, indoor 20m warm water learn to swim/program pool, wellness hall (including spa, sauna, and steam facility), leisure/toddler pool and café.
“All of these options were presented to key stakeholders for feedback with the larger outdoor and indoor aquatic facility option the most popular.
“Following a cost benefit analysis of the three options, MI Global have recommended the inclusion of a gym and/or health club facilities to the preferred option. While this would increase capital cost, these additions would also make the facility more cost effective.
“This will form the basis for Council to seek potential funding for a future pool.
“Importantly, while a redeveloped facility is a long-term plan, we are getting on with $5 million in repair work on the current pool facility to make it safe and have it reopened to the public as soon as possible.”
Mayor Hickey said she acknowledged the passion of the Glenorchy community and pool users throughout this project.
“Having community feedback to guide this project and valuable insights into what the community wants in the long-term from a publicly-funded facility is hugely important, and I thank all those people who assisted us through this process.
“Obviously, Council’s priority in the shorter term is to use the State Government funding to make the existing pool safe for public use as soon as possible, but while this is underway, we will be continuing to develop a business case for a new facility in the longer-term,” she said.
Exact costs for a redeveloped facility have yet to be calculated, but Council is advised it would currently be in the vicinity of $80 million.
“The fact is that the Council and our ratepayers do not have the capacity to fund this major project on our own. This preliminary work is being done to inform a business case for future funding opportunities,” Mayor Hickey said.
The Glenorchy War Memorial Pool Options Assessment Report can be found on the
Council’s website here.