Pool closing for 3 months to fix ceiling, ventilation issues

After the tile issue was noticed last month, management closed the pool's two hydroslides, ‘lazy...
Queenstown's public pool will be closed for three months for repairs. PHOTO: ODT FILES
Queenstown's public pool will be closed for at least three months from September to fix its ceiling and ventilation issues.At a cost of $2.3million, new ceiling tiles will be installed at Alpine Aqualand and improvements made to its ventilation system.

It will be the second major closure in 10 months for the facility, which opened in 2008 as part of the Queenstown Events Centre complex in Frankton.

It closed for five weeks last summer when ceiling tiles began falling into pools.

After the removal of 2000 tiles, it reopened on Boxing Day with a temporary plastic cover on the ceiling.

The repairs are expected to be approved by the Queenstown Lakes District Council at its full meeting next Thursday.

Council sport and recreation manager Simon Battrick said the proposed closure date had been determined by a minimum three-month lead time to order items from overseas.

All other facilities at the centre would operate as usual.

Part of the closure would coincide with the end of the third term of school, when there was a break in the facility's swim school classes and other programmes.

Discussions had already taken place with regular users of the facility, including schools and the Queenstown Swimming Club.

Mr Battrick said the opportunity would be taken during the closure to replace the linings of the lap and leisure pools, install new flooring and carry out maintenance on the hydroslides.

That would remove the need for the usual annual shutdown next May for routine maintenance and cleaning.

Options for heating Arrowtown's pool were also being explored to take up the slack.

That pool was "simply too cold" to operate much before its normal December opening, he said.

"However, we're looking at how we might be able to heat the pool, and more importantly retain this heat, earlier in spring."

Assuming the repair project got the go-ahead, his team was "determined to hit the ground running", and had developed a plan with its contractors to keep the closure period to a minimum.

"By scheduling different phases of the overall project and allocating resources intelligently, we're confident we can reopen Alpine Aqualand in time for the busy summer holiday period."

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