Dry July for leisure pool
Queenstown's main swimming pool will remain closed for at least another week or so, as repairs are made around the hydroslide tower.
The council-run Alpine Aqualand pool complex closed for annual maintenance back on Saturday, 29 June. The plan was to reopen the three pools - the leisure pool, lap pool, learners pool - and also the hot pool by Monday, 15 July.
But maintenance workers identified the need to replace some of the custom-made glass panels on the 'hydroslide mountain' in the middle of the complex, which involves removing and reinstalling all of the fixings.
Engineer reports also identified the need to make repairs to the hydroslide bridge, which covers a small section of the leisure pool and water steps.
Scaffolding remains in place around the mountain, with work expected to continue until Wednesday. The pool takes about four days to fill and heat, so Monday, 5 August, is the provisional date for reopening. The other pools are open, however, and swimming lessons are on.
Queenstown Lakes District Council's Sports & Recreation boss Simon Battrick says: “We totally understand how closing a popular area of our facility has been disappointing for many of our residents and visitors, but this type of maintenance is not unusual for a 16-year-old pool."
The Alpine Aqualand facility was closed for six whole months back in 2019/20 while the ceiling was redesigned, after moisture-logging caused panels to fall.
That project cost a whopping $2.3 million. Battrick says council won't have the final costs for the hydroslide mountain repairs until work is completed, but it’s covered from the pool’s annual plant and equipment budget. It budget can be supplemented from revenue generated from entry to the slides. The hydroslides themselves were closed for redesign back in 2009 after 69 people were injured in just seven months.
Even though the mountain towers over the pool, and swimmers swim beneath the bridge, Battrick says the has been no danger to the public. The repairs are to the concrete palling underneath and on top of the bridge. Engineers also identified some minor cracks near some of the joints, which is in line with the age of the structure and took the opportunity, as a precaution, to prop the underside of the bridge, he says.
The annual maintenance work has been beefed up since the ceiling issues were found back in 2019, hence the longer shutdown period. During the recent maintenance closure, QLDC repaired some areas of the pool liners, did some remedial work on areas of the floor, and completed a thorough overhaul of the pool plant and equipment.
MR Decorating is the contractor for the hydroslide mountain work.
"We look forward to reopening the leisure pool as soon as possible so that everyone can get back to having some fun!" Battrick says.
