Nearly five years after it was drained, there’s water in North Sydney pool

3 months ago 6

The $122 million harbourside pool that risked draining a Sydney council’s budget is being filled with water for the first time in nearly five years – but swimmers still face a months-long wait to dive in.

A hose this week started pumping about 1.921 million litres of water into the tiled surface of North Sydney Olympic Pool, after the original 50-metre outdoor structure was emptied in early 2021.

Water begins to fill North Sydney pool on Thursday.

North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker said the “positive milestone” signalled the pool was edging closer to reopening next year, following a redevelopment dogged by cascading cost blowouts and delays.

“This is a real measure of progress on construction. We’re still not quite at the end, [but] there is definitely light at the end of what has been a very long tunnel,” Baker said.

The Milsons Point pool, which opened in 1936, closed for redevelopment on February 28, 2021.

Work began that March, and it had been forecast to reopen in November 2022. The initial estimated cost was $58 million.

The water hits the tiles at North Sydney pool on Thursday.

Years of cost overruns and setbacks fanned criticism of the council’s decision to embark on such an ambitious revamp, and sparked debate about the ability of local governments to fund large projects.

North Sydney Council’s director of open space and infrastructure, Gary Parsons, said the water started pouring into the outdoor pool on Wednesday. It was expected to take five or six days to fill.

The pool will eventually be topped up with saltwater drawn from Sydney Harbour.

Two indoor pools and the children’s pool will also be filled in coming weeks. Then all the aquatic centre’s equipment and systems will be tested to ensure they are working properly and safely before the site can be handed over to the council.

Slowly but surely North Sydney pool is being refilled.

“There are still some minor construction matters to complete, but by and large it’s all done,” Parsons said.

An October project update said the developer Icon was expected to complete construction of the pool for handover to the council on December 4.

However, the council estimates handover will be closer to mid-February.

The council has estimated it would take another two to three months before the pool was ready to operate. An opening date has not been set.

Baker said: “Staff who will run the pool are in planning and preparation mode so we can be as efficient as possible when it’s handed to us, and we can open it to the public at the earliest date we can.”

Councillors will vote on a proposed fee structure, which is still being prepared, before the pool opens. The completed facility will include an expanded gym, rooms for reformer Pilates, a gelato bar, reconstructed sundeck and 970-seat grandstand.

The council is consulting the community on options to lift rates by up to 54 per cent over three years, partly due to the surging costs associated with the pool redevelopment. The pricing regulator this year rejected a proposed 87 per cent increase over two years.

Baker, a long-time critic of the scale of the revamp as a councillor, said she was aware of the sacrifices the community had made due to the pool’s cost and delays.

“We have to make certain it’s the best it possibly can be so from the moment those doors open people can walk in, be relaxed and use those facilities without there being anything to worry about.

“It has to be a great experience from day one,” Baker said.

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