Dunedin City Council Moana Pool manager Nicola Jukes yesterday confirmed plans for an upgrade of the dilapidated and overcrowded facilities were being drawn up.
Staff were still reviewing "about five" options, but it was hoped the improvements could be carried out in the first half of next year, at an estimated cost of about $600,000, she said.
One plan would add a new bank of showers within area, separate from new changing rooms where families could then get dressed, she said.
That was expected to "speed things up a bit", reducing overcrowding, she said.
In another plan, one of the walls could be "pushed out a bit", creating room for further improvements to disability changing rooms, she said.
"Because of the footprint of that area, and the way the building is at the moment, we can do a good tidy-up. We’re not going to lose changing rooms ... but we are going to try to rejig things to make the area better and quicker for people to get through.
"Whatever option was finally selected, the improvements could not come soon enough, she believed.
The space was last upgraded in the mid-2000s, when new tiles were added, but their condition now could in part be put down to a mistake with cleaning products, she said.
"The tiles haven’t sort of stood the test of time due to some cleaning products that have been used at the time, that actually damaged them."
The work was part of a wider programme of maintenance and improvements, including a plan to spend $4 million on a new hydroslide at Moana Pool.
Ms Jukes said initial work on the new hydroslide was only just beginning, but she hoped to see progress by next year.
The seismic strength of the entire complex was also to be assessed as part of the upgrades, she said.
"There’s a lot of things we still need to look at."
