Incomplete pool renovations disrupt schedule for regulars

‘SORRY, due to the renovations, we only open at 9.30am until further notice.’ Reads a sign at the entrance of Lt King Swimming Pool on Smith Drive, Bluff. While the renovations were welcomed and pool closure understood by the community, the effects of its incompletion are felt heavily by avid swimmers who enjoy the privilege of early morning swims before tending to the day’s demands.

One such resident is Adrienne Schick, who, for the past 25 years, along with a good number of other early morning swimmers, has been enjoying morning splashes from as early as 6am daily.

“I have been swimming at 6am on a daily basis throughout the summer season from October to April for 25 years. During those years, the winter opening times were 9am to 5pm. This year the pool was closed until Monday, 7 October for maintenance – fair enough. But when I visited the pool again on the day, I was told that the pool would be operating in winter times from 9.30am to 4.30pm until further notice. An hour less,” she said.

Adrienne added that while she’s had to accommodate the temporary time change, 9.30am is an inconvenient time as it cuts into the middle of a busy morning for her. She said the closing of the pool on Thursday, 17 October, with no explanation and the change of supervisors further shook confidence in the smooth sail of things at the pool. “The Lieutenant King Swimming Pool is one of only a very few 50-metre pools in the country and therefore should be considered an asset to the city, and treated as such. Over the past two years one of the temporary fill-in supervisors lives just around the corner in Fynnlands but is employed at the Kings Park pool. Could he not be transferred back again to fill the vacancy at our Bluff pool and thus allow the summer opening times to be adhered to?” she questioned.

Another concerned resident, Martie Hildyard, said after the pool was closed for several months for renovations, the workmanship was shocking.”We were expecting the pool to be renovated and fixed, but the only thing that was done was the fence that was replaced and contractors started to replace the ceilings of the change rooms, but that is still not completed and what a mess they made,” she said.

Ward 66 councillor, JP Prinsloo, said the repairs undertaken by the city at Lt King pool over the last few months were extensive but the wait will be worth it. “The initial completion date was moved to accommodate the additional work identified during the repair of infrastructure damaged during the 2017 storm. We do understand that the current condition of the pool is not ideal but the end result of this renovation will be worth the wait,” he said.

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