It will have been six years in the making and a big ask for a community of about 600 people when it is opened for the first time in about six months' time.
The community-owned fitness centre, toddlers' pool, learners' pool and 25m six-lane lap pool, with a lift entry for the elderly, would open for at least one day once built, and then close for six months over the winter, Tuapeka Aquatic Centre chairman Garry McCorkindale said.
One more wait would not matter for the Lawrence-Tuapeka community after what had been a frustrating series of delays, he said.
''It'll be a one-day free swim and then we'll lock the door again. Even if it's only one day, everyone will get the chance to get in it.''
''No-one wants to swim in the winter anyway,'' he said.
The aquatic centre was expected to be in use this summer but the ageing council-owned Lawrence pool - operating on a shortened season - will serve the community instead.
The Clutha District Council had not budgeted to open the pool this summer, but agreed to do so for 10 weeks due to the delays in the construction of the aquatic centre.
It took six months for the engineer to sign off the design for the new aquatic centre, and then unexpected delays in the building consent process saw the scheduled build last year delayed until after winter, but Mr McCorkindale said the new facility would be worth the wait for the community in the Lawrence area.
''It is flash,'' he said.
''It's a quality design, there's nothing cheap about it, but it is basic.''
The new building with blue translucent roofing nestled next to Lawrence School would be a stand-out piece of infrastructure for the Lawrence community, he said, and it would represent a commitment from the people who call Lawrence home.
Fundraising for the more than $400,000 the community has contributed began in mid-2009.
The council approved a $1.35 million grant for the pool at its meeting last month.
But the community's contribution is ongoing. The pool - to operate for six months of the year - will be heated during daylight saving time by the school's boiler when it no longer uses it.
Volunteer local contractors will complete the excavation and diggers, trucks and time will all be donated before Calder Stewart steps in to build it.
Mr McCorkindale said the aquatic centre had been designed to cater to as many people as possible in the Lawrence area and he was not ruling out cycle trail users from going for a swim.
''It was a tall order for a small town. People aren't interested in funding people who can't help themselves.''
The Tuapeka Aquatic Centre incorporated society approached local businesses and farmers and asked for a donation of $5000 to be paid over four years.
It was this commitment from the community, he said, that made the application for grant funding from other sources possible.
