Northern Beaches Leisure Centre reopening after ten month closure

Get the togs out, the Northern Beaches Leisure Centre is reopening after a ten month closure. See what’s changed.

For ten months the Northern Beaches Leisure Centre has been a tradie-only zone, but this Monday the gates will be thrown open to the public.

Pool leasee and Olympic gold medallist Jon Sieben said the moment word got around of a grand reopening, he was “bombarded” with requests from schools looking to book swimming lessons and carnivals.

“We’ve got about 10 schools that use our facilities, including St Margaret Mary’s which drives all the way out here,” Mr Sieben said.

“We’ve been completely shut for months, and the place is now looking great.”

Checking out the pool is councillor Maurie Soars and Member for Hinchinbrook Nick Dametto - who happens to be a North Shore resident.

Outside the nearby Woolworth North Shore it wasn’t hard to find an excited local.

Wayne Campbell said he was pleased the pool was back.

“My missus will be happy,” the Bushland Beach resident said.

“She does the pilates there.”

Locals: Candice Weston with young daughter Ella-Lacey McDonald and friend Wendy Adamson.

Bushland Beach mum Wendy Adamson said the leisure centre was a good alternative to The Strand Water Park for northern families.

“It’s in a really good spot because the older kids can go to the skate park next door while the little kids stay with us around the water slides and kiddie pools. And the grocery store is right there so you can get the shopping done,” she said.

“Some people caused a stink because it was delayed, but I thought they (the council) did the right thing. If you get more funding, than you might as well use it.”

A sign out the front of the leisure centre

Busy mum Candice Weston agreed.

“You might as well get it right the first time,” she said.

“We use the pool a lot. We usually bring a picnic and all the kids go crazy.”

Mr Sieben said the pool faced many construction challenges - most of it caused by wet weather.

“We now have a completely concrete 50m pool, better filtration, shade sails, lighting, the shallow end is down in a better spot now - there has been a lot of redesign,” Mr Sieben said.

“You know, when we first opened in 2008, there were six display homes out here and that was it.”

The new concrete 50m pool brings the facility to competition standard and opens up the possibility of hosting QLD swim events.

The concrete pool replaces the old vinyl (or ‘modular’) 50m pool.

“The old pool had a concrete floor and the sides were panels. Once it started leaking you couldn’t stop it,” Mr Sieben said.

“That pool helped us grow the leisure centre and this entire area because people could see there was infrastructure out here, but it’s time was up.”

The pool refurbishment was bankrolled by $5 million from the state government.

Townsville City councillor Maurie Soars, Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto and Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper got a first-look at the new pool on Friday.

Member for Thuringowa Aaron Harper checks out the new filtration gear, which was a big part of the refurbishment.

Cr Soars said the previous pool served its purpose providing a quick and affordable swimming space for a fast-growing suburb.

Mr Dametto said kids across the northern corridor were “chomping at the bit” to get back into the pools.

“I live in North Shore personally and this place is the centre of excitement at the moment. We have night markets, the Suns train daily on the footy field and cafes are popping up everywhere,” Mr Dametto said.

“The Northern Beaches is growing and exploding in number, people love this place.”

Northern Beaches Leisure Centre is owned by Townsville City Council.

Originally published as Northern Beaches Leisure Centre reopening after ten month closure