Mandurah residents will soon be able to dive into the Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre’s indoor pool after a three-year wait.
It is scheduled to open on May 6 and the newly renovated wellness centre, which also includes the centre’s spa and sauna, is scheduled to reopen on or before May 13.
The roof above the heated pool copped damage during a storm in May 2021, with ongoing delays to its repair — originally slated for completion in September 2023 — blamed on tradie shortages and a “high inflationary environment”.
In March, the city confirmed the roof repair works had been completed but refurbishment repairs to the 25m pool were also required before patrons could take to the water.
Mandurah mayor Rhys Williams thanked swimmers for their patience while the repairs were completed.
“As well as the roof replacement, other maintenance and refurbishment works to the indoor pool including refilling and testing, and repairs to tiling, stainless steel ladders and handrails and the pool liner have also now been fully completed and the pool is now ready for public use,” he said.
Acoustic panelling has also been installed.
After the 25m pool has reopened, the adjacent leisure pool will be closed for six weeks for similar upgrades, with children’s swimming lessons moved to the lap pool.
The city accepted a $6.7m quote from Perth-based PCB Contractors to fix the roof, with $6.034m allocated for the fix this year from the city’s $7.5m budget for the project.
The price to repair the roof skyrocketed over the project’s timeline from an original estimate of $2.6m in late 2021, with materials costs, industry-wide shortages and struggles to secure a contractor to blame for the increase.