A combination of works could see the swimming pools at Dundee’s Olympia Centre closed until late next year, the city’s council has said.
Dundee City Council said that survey works, planned refurbishment and repair work could lead to up to £4.5 million being spent on the centre.
According to a report by the local authority, an issue was identified in September with the fixings for light fittings – this led to a closure of all pool facilities, with work to rectify the issue beginning in October.
Whilst the facility was closed, further inspection work was undertaken which identified issues in two curtain wall bolt fixings. Additional survey works are underway to assess the overall facility, with any resulting repair work to be incorporated into the planned refurbishment programme.
The council said that renovation works already being developed and scheduled for 2022 will tackle surface and superficial corrosion, general refurbishment and upgrading and rectification of water egress within ancillary plant areas.
If the city development committee agrees to the ongoing closure of the Olympia pools while all of the works are carried out, the programme will also bring forward some other planned cyclical maintenance and replacement works. This will result in a projected start on site in the first quarter of 2022.
Although the building works are not structural, the need to remove, refurbish and reinstall key public facing equipment including the flume structure will require a ‘significant’ closure, the council added – with it being anticipated that the work could take 45 weeks.
The final contract programme and cost will be discussed as part of the tender acceptance process, with Leisure and Culture Dundee consulted throughout.
Mark Flynn, convener of the Dundee City Council city development committee, said, “The Olympia has been open for more than eight years and while that may not seem long, this is a facility that has long operational hours and high usage in a challenging environment due to the heat, moisture and chemicals to maintain water quality in the pools.
“It will always need periodic replacement of various parts and regular planned maintenance including all health and safety inspections and testing.
“Taken together these circumstances have created a situation where more surveys need to be carried out, as well as refurbishment work that was planned anyway and repairs to parts of the building that were found to be needed as part of the previous inspection process.”
