Canterbury Leisure and Aquatic Centre could become Sydney’s least delayed and least expensive new pool, despite being the latest facility impacted by the city’s fractured relationship with redevelopments.
The $70 million reconstruction of the pool, which first opened in 1959, was expected to cost about $45 million and was due to be demolished in 2022 and reopened in 2024.
Instead, it was demolished in 2024 and has missed its scheduled reopening in 2025. It is slated to reopen in about 12 months, with delays attributed to construction complications and the discovery of asbestos.
The new facility will have a 50-metre outdoor pool, a 25-metre heated indoor pool, a heated “therapy pool”, a “zero-depth” children’s pool, a sauna, a gym and a cafe.
But the aquatic centre is still a construction site, complete with rising scaffolding and the sounds of heavy machinery pounding at the ground, the old Canterbury ice rink looming in the background.
On a tour with local state MP Sophie Costis, Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek waved away concerns about blowouts, saying delays were expected with the construction of a “state-of-the-art pool”.
The reconstruction of the Canterbury Leisure and Aquatic Centre has reached the halfway point.Credit: Max Mason-Hubers
“I am not going to talk timelines when my aim is to deliver a state-of-the-art facility for the community, it’s what the community deserves.
“I am not going to give you an exact month; the weather has been awful, and these things happen. But the reality is we’re on track to deliver a state-of-the-art pool that has cost tens of millions of dollars.”
Construction has reached the halfway stage, although it had been challenging and the council said in a statement that contractors had encountered a “number of unexpected issues”.
El-Hayek said once, “You start digging, you find a whole heap of things.”
“We found asbestos, they found bikes, bottles, a whole heap of things; I think probably they were telling me gas lines as well. So these are all part of any project, but the reality is we’re now above the ground and we’re not expecting any extra costs to come our way.”
The facility will also include some community-specific features, such as the capacity to close off one of the pools for private sessions or gender-exclusive classes.
“The community was different some 65 years ago [when the pool first opened]. The demographics were different. So we are now catering for this local community, for their needs.
“As a kid growing up, this would have been a dream for me. And I actually can’t wait to see the local young and old, the babies and not-so babies, enjoy these brilliant facilities,” he said.
The facility’s delayed reopening comes amid a race among Sydney councils to avoid the fate of the beleaguered $122 million revamp of the North Sydney pool, which has been delayed for more than four years.
Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre, Willoughby Leisure Centre, Epping pool and the Mount Druitt Swimming Centre are all closed or due to be closed for reconstruction as ageing aquatic centres reach the end of their lifespan.
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