Revamp of ageing Olympic pool needs another $30 million, mayor says

Perched on the edge of the harbour, North Sydney Olympic Pool is famous for its setting.

But the local council says the swimming spot is in a precarious position of a different kind - the ageing pool needs extensive upgrades yet the council is millions of dollars short to fund them.

The redeveloped North Sydney Olympic Pool will keep heritage elements but include a new grandstand.

Councillors on the North Sydney Council voted to submit a development application for a $57.9 million overhaul at a meeting on Monday night.

The concept designs for the revamp included an upgraded 50-metre pool, an additional "family leisure" pool and a new grandstand. The existing grandstand had "reached the end of its useful life", a council report found.

"We've managed to retain all the important heritage elements, such as the stairwell and the bay windows facing the harbour, while producing a pool for the 21st century," the mayor of North Sydney, Jilly Gibson, said.

The report said the concept design was partly informed by a council committee "study tour" of three pools in Melbourne.

The North Sydney Olympic Pool, which requires an upgrade.Credit: Steven Woodburn

Cr Gibson and her daughter, fellow councillor Alanya Drummond, attracted criticism when they went on the taxpayer-funded fact-finding mission to glean inspiration for the project last year.

The council's general manager Ken Gouldthorp said while it had allocated $28 million for the project, it now needed another $30 million for the redevelopment to go ahead.

“Independent engineering consultants have confirmed that the 50-metre pool, concourse and grandstand require urgent remedial work so we are progressing to [development application] stage to keep the project on track," he said.

"However, unless grant funding becomes available, we will need to look at our options. No-one wants to see North Sydney Olympic Pool close.”

The council report said that rising building costs and the need to replace the grandstand had "significantly impacted" the estimated cost of the project.

But independent councillor MaryAnn Beregi said that the concept plans were "ridiculous" and the project not ready for the development application stage.

Jilly Gibson, mayor of North Sydney.Credit: Fioma Morris

"We should put together a concept design that is based on the community feedback and put it back out for community consultation, and a business case to show the pool should be self-sufficient," she said.

Cr Gibson said she would invite Premier Gladys Berejiklian, federal MP Trent Zimmerman and state MP Felicity Wilson to view the pool's grandstand in a bid to secure additional funding.

She hoped work on the redevelopment would start this time next year and said the pool would need to shut for 18 months to two years.

Councils across Sydney are struggling to stay afloat when it comes to funding upgrades to the city's deteriorating older pools, with two pools forced to close over the summer. The 50-metre outdoor pool at Lane Cove shut last year, with construction on a replacement pool and grandstand due to start shortly.

Inner west councillors have previously been split on the best way of securing funding for much-needed repairs to Balmain's Dawn Fraser Baths.

And further west, Parramatta was left without a pool after the state government demolished the council-owned pool for an expanded Parramatta Stadium.