Aquatic centre to reopen soon

South Hedland residents may finally get a reprieve from the heat as South Hedland Aquatic Centre gets a reopening date.

Town of Port Hedland Mayor Camilo Blanco said at the August ordinary council meeting the aquatic centre was scheduled to open at the end of this year.

“The suggested time frame that may be possible for the aquatic centre to be reopened would probably be late December,” he said. “That is not definite but that is best assumption considering the amount of work that needs to be done, tenders that need to go out, and work to be done to get it up to a standard where Health De-partment will allow it to be opened.”

The announcement was made when Cr Richard Whitwell asked for an update and explanation on the pool’s continued delay after the council had a tour of the centre that week.

Town chief executive David Pentz said the long wait was because of different information given compared to last year and a different approach taken by the new executive team.

The aquatic centre has been closed for 12 months after a sudden closure last September because of issues with the pool’s filters and a need to rebuild the plant room.

Mr Pentz said the original budget to fix the problems blew out to $3 million, which incited a different approach to addressing the repairs.