Repairs to the roof of the Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre are on track to be completed this month, almost three years after the roof was initially damaged.
During last Tuesday’s council meeting, Councillor Dave Schumacher asked for an update on the completion of the works, which began after a storm caused damage to the roof above the 25m indoor pool in May 2021.
In response, city built and natural environment director Matthew Hall said the repair works were “progressing well” and he was “anticipating completion in March”.
Completion of repairs to the roof will end almost three years of inactivity in the 25m indoor heated pool, which included a series of blowouts to both its budget and timeline.
The price to fix the roof skyrocketed to $5.7 million by October 2022, with soaring materials costs, industry-wide shortages and the city’s struggle to secure a contractor blamed.
The city did not find a contractor until November 2022 when it accepted a $6.7m quote from Perth-based PCB Contractors to fix the roof.
A financial statement in minutes from the January council meeting revealed $6.034m had been allocated for the fix this year, which is within the city’s $7.5m budget for the project, but much higher than the original cost estimate of $2.6m made in November 2021.
The minutes also revealed that demolition had been completed, with steel fabrication commencing and expected to be finished by “early 2024”.
In August 2023, it was reported the Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre roof replacement would be delayed until 2024, with the city blaming a “once-in-a-generation trade worker shortage and high inflationary environment” for the delay.
In August last year, the smaller indoor leisure pool also copped damage during a storm and was temporarily closed.
Work has since been completed to strengthen the temporary wall between the two indoor pools.