Adelaide City Council consider $60m for new Aquatic Centre in North Adelaide

A detailed Adelaide City Council workshop report reveals plans to spend up to $60 million building a new Aquatic Centre at North Adelaide. Here are the potential locations.

The current Adelaide City Council-owned Adelaide Aquatic Centre. Picture: Colin James

Up to $60m is proposed to be spent on a new Adelaide Aquatic Centre, an City Council workshop document reveals.

The document, which is due to be discussed by the council on Tuesday night, suggests the creation of a 50m outdoor pool, as well as a 25m indoor pool, creche, gym, spa, sauna and changerooms.

And while renovating the current North Adelaide site remains an option, the council will also discuss creating an entirely new centre, with two sites on Barton Terrace West the favoured locations.

The council report said an outdoor 50m pool was preferable to an indoor pool due to “substantially lower” construction and operating costs.

An outdoor pool would fulfil a key requirement to achieve 1.3 million visitations by 2030, it said.

Potential sites for the new Adelaide Aquatic Centre. Picture: Adelaide City Council

However, it would not rule out a 50m indoor pool, if any funding partners demanded such.

In February, Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor hosted a meeting to obtain the support of three neighbouring councils to seek state and federal funding for the project.

That followed a decision by the Adelaide Crows to abandon plans to take over the centre as its new base for the club.

As part of the new report, five potential locations, including the existing site, were given a score based on criteria including access and cost.

Two sites on Barton Terrace West, one of the corner of Prospect Road and one on the corner of Jeffcott Road, scored highest. Both sites were noted as having individual pros and cons, with the Prospect Road site being closer to public transport and O’Connell Street, while the Jeffcott Road site would retain use of the current carpark.

The planned layout for the $60 million Adelaide Aquatic Centre. Picture: Adelaide City Council

Renovating the current site remained an option, however, the report said a 24-month to 30-month closure meant it scored lower than the more favoured options.

The council’s director of city shaping, Tom McCready, said the council as taking a “measured” approach to financial considerations.

“We want to ensure we are maximising opportunities to generate return on our investments and investing in our city as well as providing the best possible experiences for our customers and community,” Mr McCready said.

The committee was “continuing to actively write to all levels of government seeking funding assistance,” according to the report.

But councillor Alexander Hyde questioned spending so much in the council’s current economic position.

“It’s certainly an interesting time to discuss spending over $100m on community facilities, even if they might generate an income,” Cr Hyde said.

“This is a regional facility, and the South Australian community deserves a new indoor aquatic centre in this area, but our relatively small ratepayer base do not deserve to be left paying for the whole thing.”