Batemans Bay: After 20 years, $60m Bay Pavilions construction complete
Decades of dedication and fundraising have yielded results as community leaders get their first look at the new multimillion-dollar Bay Pavilion. Take a look inside here.
The South Coast News
Don't miss out on the headlines from The South Coast News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The dreams of dozens of dedicated campaigners in Batemans Bay have yielded results after decades of hard work and fundraising, as construction on the multi-million dollar Bay Pavilions finally concludes.
While much of the state-of-art aquatic and arts facility remains closed off as finishing touches are made, the completion of major works was marked by a ceremony on Thursday ahead of its opening in June.
The new aquatic facility includes a 25m lap pool with eight lanes and ramp access, a warm water pool, a leisure pool for early swimming education, and four water slides.
Eurobodalla Mayor Matthew Hatcher said he was happy to see work on the site complete.
“Each and every person here today has contributed to creating this spectacular facility,” he said.
For Batemans Bay Indoor Aquatic Centre Committee president Carolyn Harding seeing the site open its doors in its entirety was humbling, after years of campaigning and fundraising.
“It’s a very exciting day, and I’m honoured to be a part of it,” she said.
“This will mean we have a facility that is open all year round, and will be for all ages and abilities, which is something we didn’t have before.”
Ms Harding said the community had recognised more than 20 years ago the need to ditch the old outdoor swimming pool, which was only open for six months of the year, for an indoor one.
“We need the continuity of swimming lessons, and something for people to do if you have a bad weather day in Batemans Bay,” she said.
“Whether you’re a tourist or a local, there’s not a lot to do, because we rely on the beaches and the bushwalking and all the outdoors.”
Greg Bowman from the Batemans Bay Performing Arts and Exhibition Committee helped spearhead advocacy for the centre’s other main attraction, its advanced new arts precinct which includes a gallery space and an auditorium.
Having joined the committee in only the last few years, he said the early campaigners could never have envisioned a site such as the one that opened to the media on Thursday.
“To be able to bring events, cultural events of all sorts, exhibitions and sculpture … to bring those sorts of things into a building like this in our little town is very special,” he said.
Mr Bowman said the new auditorium would mean local and visiting performers would not have to rely on local venues such as the Soldiers Club to host occasions, and would attract a new calibre of performer.
“This centre is going to bring roadshows and all sorts of things to this town because of the quality,” he said.
“I think every kid in the back seat of a car driven past here for the last few months and seeing this outdoor aquatic centre, from Eden to Sydney, I think it’s gonna bring a lot of people to town.
“All elements of the building.”
When it opens in coming months, operator Aligned Leisure will charge $7 for adult entry to the pool and $5 for children. The full list of costs are:
Pool entry
- Swim Entry – Adult $7.00
- Swim Entry – Child/Concession $5.00
- Swim Entry – Family (2 adults, 2 children) $22.00
- Waterslide Ticket – Adult (3 hours) $13.00
- Waterslide Ticket – Child/Concession (3 hours) $9.00
- Waterslide Ticket – Adult (All Day) $22.00
- Waterslide Ticket – Child/Concession (All Day) $16.00
- Squad (per session) $15.00
- School Swim Entry (fee per student) $4.50
- Lane Hire (per hour) $42.00
- Multi-Visit Pass (10 Swims) – Adult $60.00
- Multi-Visit Pass (10 Swims) – Youth/Concession $45.00
Aquatic membership – Fortnightly, plus a $60 joining fee
- Aquatics Membership – Adult $22.15
- Aquatics Membership – Child/Concession $19.38
- Aquatics Membership – Family $36.92
Gym and health/fitness centres – Fortnightly, plus a $60 joining fee
- Gold Membership (Gym & Group Fitness Access) – Adult $38.77
- Gold Membership (Gym & Group Fitness Access) – Concession $35.54
- Gym Membership – Adult $31.02
- Gym Membership – Concession $27.14
- Gym Membership – Youth $25.85
- Group Fitness Membership – Adult $28.80
- Group Fitness Membership – Concession $25.20
Full centre membership – Fortnightly, plus a $60 joining fee
- Platinum Membership (Full Centre Access) – Adult $45.23
- Platinum Membership (Full Centre Access) – Concession $41.54
Spanning multiple council mayors and local government members, the opening of the pool and arts centre was marked also by the attendance of sparring political candidates, new and old.
Senator Jim Molan and NSW Arts Minister Ben Franklin joined former Bega member, Liberal Andrew Constance alongside current Labor member for Bega, Michael Holland, and Mr Constance’s competitor in the Gilmore election, Labor’s Fiona Phillips.
Mr Constance’s history in the region loomed large, despite the loss of his successor, Fiona Kotjos, at the Bega by-election in February, with both Mr Molan and Mr Franklin singling the Gilmore candidate out.
Mr Molan lauded the new facility as the product of co-operation between the State and Federal Governments, as well as the Eurobodalla Shire Council.
“What an extraordinary building you’ve produced here and it will serve going into the future to serve this community,” he said.
“We certainly know that this is a facility which will not just provide feedback, in the sense of an increasing cultural awareness – a cultural awareness which is not super imposed from above, but a cultural awareness which comes out of the people and which is produced in this facility – it will produce as well a physical fitness benefit to us which is absolutely necessary in the modern world in which we live.”
Mr Molan said construction involved the creation of 133 indirect jobs and 51 direct jobs, with 17 direct and 19 indirect jobs continuing once the site is open to the public.
Mr Franklin said the centre would redefine the Eurobodalla as a destination that will attract not just local arts and performing acts, but national, and potentially international, ones too.
“The Bay Pavilions will reconnect this community and capture the region’s cultural identity,” he said.
“And it will further develop Batemans Bay as a destination for arts and creativity in Australia.”
‘Kill your f**king dog’: Elderly woman hurt in wild pet dispute
A woman has been found guilty of assaulting her elderly neighbour on the NSW south coast, when an ongoing dispute over dogs reached its boiling point.
‘Pretty big ideas’: Mayor’s plan to ‘transform’ CBD
A plan to transform a NSW south coast town’s central business district is set to be revealed to the public, with the mayor behind the proposal speaking on the “pretty big ideas”.