Swim students take plunge at Macarthur girls school during pool rebuild

Lean-to-swim students and lap swimmers in Parramatta will have a new home this summer but it will come at a hefty cost to ratepayers.

The Parramatta Memorial Pool shut down earlier in the year but the council now has a new place for people to swim. Pictures: Justin Sanson

Lean-to-swim students and lap swimmers in Parramatta will have a new home this summer following closure and demolition of the Memorial Pool to make way for the new $320 million Western Sydney Stadium, but it will come at a hefty cost to ratepayers.

Macarthur Girls High School pool will be the option for the next four years with the council forking out as much as $700,000 to upgrade its facilities.

Work is slated to be finished by October ready for the summer and will include upgrades to the pool and its filtration system, additional toilet facilities and a separate external entrance for the pool.

“Council recognises the importance of having interim aquatic arrangements in place for the community to enjoy during the warmer months and I’m very pleased we have been able to negotiate community access to the pool at Macarthur Girls High School in time for summer,” council administrator Amanda Chadwick said.

A draft feasibility study suggests a new Parramatta pool would have an indoor eight lane 25m pool, and a 10-lane outdoor 50m pool.

Since the much loved Memorial Pool was closed swimmers have had to find alternatives until a new aquatic centre is built and opened but that may be three years away, even though as part of the draft designs for the Mays Hill Precinct Master Plan, Parramatta Park Trust has identified the site next to Park Pde, near the corner of Pitt St, as the preferred location for a new centre which is likely to come in at least $60 million, with half of that promised by the State Government.

A Draft Feasibility Study commissioned by the council — based on community feedback — reveals the new centre will likely have an indoor aquatic area with an eight lane 25m pool, a 10-lane outdoor 50m pool, as well as a learn-to-swim pool and water slides. The centre would also feature multipurpose rooms and public amenities, an entry area with cafe, spectator seating and barbecue area.

The target opening date for the new aquatic leisure centre is March 2020, but this depends on “strategies aimed at fast-tracking the project”, says the council, but it could be bogged down further for archaeological investigations and to provide utilities and services.

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But by December we should all know what the new centre will look like, what it will include, how much it is going to cost, where exactly all the money is going to come from, and when it will be open for business.