Will a diving facility cost too much? Photo: Facebook.
The ACT Government will probably say it’s a case of apples and oranges, but it remains a fair question why a $138 million outlay can’t build an aquatic centre like Adelaide’s recently completed project, which includes a diving facility and cost $3 million less.
When Chief Minister Andrew Barr announced his ambitions for a Convention and Entertainment Centre on the Civic pool site, it fulfilled a longtime yearning for such a facility.
The announcement may have disappointed footy fans whose hopes had been raised of a central, city stadium, but it was a better use of the land than an ageing pool complex with maintenance issues.
The trade-off for pool users was that they would get a brand new Canberra Aquatic Centre, not too far away which, in the end, was at Commonwealth Park, thanks to the Albanese Government.
What many missed, though, was that the diving component – which serves a number of groups, not just divers – disappeared from the public pronouncements and was never included in planning and tender documents.
It seems that after a feasibility study for a diving facility at Stromlo Leisure Centre, the government shied away from the pricetag, which was apparently $60-80 million.
The chosen site in Commonwealth Park, on the carpark near Commonwealth Avenue and strategically close to the light rail stop and the upcoming Acton Waterfront neighbourhood, was also cited as a reason for abandoning a like-for-like proposition.
It’s on a slope, it’s too rocky, and the National Capital Authority would not like a diving tower or a building to house it, as it would interfere with the vistas.
Forget the height argument, that tram left the station a while ago. Across the road, Acton Waterfront will have apartment buildings starting at eight storeys on Commonwealth Avenue.
The other excuses may mean some extra cost, compared with Adelaide’s flat site, but there is still $138 million to play with.
Adelaide Aquatic Centre’s site plan. Image: ACT Aquatic Alliance.
The Aquatic Alliance, formed to protect and advocate for Canberra’s pools, would prefer that the Civic facility stay where it is and be upgraded, but that isn’t an option.
It is on firmer ground when it argues that the community should not go backwards in moving to a new facility.
It also questions the government’s costing of a diving facility, accusing it of gold-plating the Stromlo proposal so it had a reason to reject it, there and for Commonwealth Park.
The Alliance would like an Olympic competition-standard facility. Its ambitious wishlist emulates interstate aquatic centres but is excessive for a city this size and probably clashes with the government’s more community-focused approach.
For example, deep water at both ends of the 50-metre pool to allow safe diving at swim meets won’t happen.
And just saying this is the national capital doesn’t automatically confer preferred status when it comes to funding.
But it does not negate the key point of the Alliance and the politicians backing it, Senator David Pocock and MLA Thomas Emerson, that the funding envelope should be enough, and if a bit more is needed, go back to the Commonwealth.
Mr Barr has already been pressured into committing to a new outdoor pool in Woden and a separate diving facility somewhere, sometime in the future, at some unknown cost.
That’s rightly been seen as a political response and kicking the can down the road.
Mr Emerson argues that building a separate diving facility could end up costing the Territory double without the Commonwealth going halves, saying a good way to contain costs is to choose an all-in-one facility.
What Canberrans deserve to know is why $138 million is not enough for a like-for-like replacement, and how the government came to that figure.
A realistic cost breakdown could settle the matter.
Mr Barr says the design tender process is underway, and any interruption could mean delays that the community would not like.
But it was the government’s choice to proceed with the project by omission, almost stealthily, by not being clear about the diving facility.
It may be right about what is possible, but at present, they’ve muddied the waters.
