Clarence Valley Council to sell water slide from Grafton Olympic Pool
The iconic blue water slide from the Grafton Olympic Pool is up for a sale — there’s just one catch, the local purchaser will have to pack it up on site and its BYO truck to transport it home.
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It’s been pitched as a chance “to own a unique piece of local history”.
A Clarence resident could soon become the new owner of Grafton Olympic Pool’s blue water slide – just as long as they are able to organise a truck to transport it from its current home.
A 3D model of the slide in all its glory, 360 imagery and a survey will also be thrown in for free.
The water slide was an iconic feature of the now closed Grafton Olympic Pool.
The pool served the community for more than 60 years, but a Clarence Valley Council asset management plan found the pool had “reached the end of its useful life” and needed to be replaced.
More than 1800 Grafton residents signed a petition to save their beloved pool – but its gates were shut in September 2022.
Since then, the planned upgrade of the town’s public pool has not come without difficulties.
Costs for the upgrade have skyrocketed and the reopening of the new pool has been delayed, leaving Grafton locals without a place to cool off over the summer.
Council’s recent announcement about the waterslide’s sale attracted over 100 comments on Facebook.
“This would be heaps easier than the track to the river!,” one local wrote.
Another suggested it should be donated to the historical society for all to admire, while many said council should reinstall the slide at the new aquatic centre.
“Should just … put it back up. The slide was the best thing about the pool,” one wrote.
The water slide is not the first item of Grafton’s Olympic Pool council has sold.
Last June, Clarence locals were able to places bids at an auction for an eclectic collection of items from the closed Grafton Olympic Pool — ranging from change room cubicles to fibreglass umbrellas.
At the time, the council’s manager of open spaces and facilities Peter Birch said the aim of the auction was to see items reused rather than thrown into the trash.
“We have identified and removed a range of infrastructure, which either holds monetary or sentimental value, to reduce the impact on the environment,” he said.
An online meeting an inspection of the water slide will be held on February 5.
Requests for quotation close on Friday, February 23.
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Originally published as Clarence Valley Council to sell water slide from Grafton Olympic Pool
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