Manly Waterworks at Pavilion is overgrown and dilapidated but new owners have reopening plan
INSIDE the Manly Waterworks the picture is forlorn as the once popular spot lies overgrown and dilapidated. But the family behind the restoration of site’s Pavilion restaurant have a plan. VIDEO
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IT was a favourite summer spot for kids for years and Nicole Kidman shot scenes from an early film on one of its slides.
But Manly Waterworks has become a forlorn and overgrown site since the gates were locked last year.
However, the new owners of the site, the Severino family who run Miramare Gardens in Terrey Hills, say they are committed to getting it open again — especially as they have memories of long summer days there.
The family secured the lease for Manly Bathers Pavilion last month and plan to resurrect the venue — that includes the landmark Manly Pavilion restaurant — to a family-friendly spot that harks back to the building’s former glory days.
Paul Severino, who will be the manager of the Manly Pavilion restaurant next door, said he recalled fooling around on the slides as a kid.
“I remember going every week in the summer,” he said.
“We’ve been speaking to a few companies that are certainly interested in really bringing this back up, but as you can see, it’s in a pretty bad state.
“Fingers crossed, we might be able to get it up and going by summer this year.
Mr Severino confirmed engineers have been in to assess the safety of the slides, and said while most of the actual fibreglass remains intact, there are issues with some of the structures and water pumps.
He said he also wanted to get the cafe, which borders the site, to open into the Waterworks too.
The park first opened in 1981 and last welcomed families in August 2015.
As reported in the Manly Daily, the family aims to reopen the restaurant at the Pavilion late next month, followed by a function centre.
They won the tender for the RMS-owned heritage site.
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