Chief Minister Andrew Barr says a 50-metre indoor pool and a 25-metre outdoor pool are possible. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
The Friends of Canberra Olympic Pool have welcomed confirmation from Chief Minister Andrew Barr that the 50-metre pool at the proposed Canberra Aquatic Centre in Commonwealth Park will be indoors, but say more detail is needed on a new dive facility.
After the ACT Government issued a statement late on Monday saying a 50-metre pool would be prioritised in the Aquatic Centre design process, Mr Barr moved to clarify the government’s intentions at a press conference the next day.
“To give absolute clarity, that design process will focus on a 50-metre indoor pool, but we are also looking at what other facilities we can provide within the project budget,” he said.
Mr Barr said the only circumstance in which an indoor 50-metre pool would not happen would be the unlikely event of the cost exceeding the $138 million project budget.
“The question is, what’s the balance of indoor and outdoor facilities? Because there are many in the community who like outdoor pools, but we recognise that they’re only usable in Canberra for probably five months of the year,” he said.
Mr Barr said a potential outcome would be a 50-metre indoor pool and a 25-metre outdoor pool.
He said the project budget was fixed and the Commonwealth would not be pouring any more money into it, “so we have to build as much as we possibly can within the available project budget”.
“That’s what we’re seeking to do, that’s what this design phase is about.”
Mr Barr said people wanted a full range of facilities within the new aquatic centre, but it was impossible to deliver everything.
“I hope the project budget will allow both indoor and outdoor, which is what we’ve been saying all along,” he said.
But Mr Barr warned that the experience with other pool projects elsewhere was that budgets could be blown if there were design changes midstream.
“So we need to plan this very carefully and be realistic about what we can achieve,” he said.
Mr Barr said the cost of a new dive facility to replace the one at Civic pool would be too much for it to be included in the Commonwealth Park project.
He reiterated that the government was considering a like-for-like replacement (a 5-metre-deep pool and a 10-metre tower) at three possible sites: the Stromlo Forest Park pool, the promised new Woden outdoor pool, or the Australian Institute of Sport in Bruce, if the Commonwealth wanted an elite-level competition and training facility.
Mr Barr said the AIS option was an outside chance but worth exploring as part of the new Aquatic Strategy.
“It might actually make more sense for that to be located at the Australian Institute of Sport in Bruce, but that’s not land we own, and would need to be discussed with the Commonwealth and the Sports Commission,” he said.
FoCOP President Terry Slevin said Mr Barr’s comments were a welcome step forward.
“We are grateful to have a 100 per cent guarantee of a 50-metre indoor pool in Commonwealth Park,” he said.
“We remain hopeful it will be 10 lanes.”
Mr Slevin said a stronger commitment to dive facilities was also welcome, but FOCOP would be keen to see more details.
