Pool of healing on hold

People who need therapy at the region's only warm water pool have been left high and dry by a repair bill, reports Sophie Bond.
The hydrotherapy pool at Laura Fergusson Trust's Rehabilitation Centre has a long, sloping ramp for water wheelchairs and a submerged window so physiotherapists can watch their patients' progress. But there's a noticeable absence of water.
There is, however, a jungle of scaffolding, a thick layer of dust, and spider webs.
Mary Robinson has had no water therapy for 10 months because this is the only suitable pool in Auckland and it's been closed since last November.
Ms Robinson, who suffers from the rare, multisystem-affecting POEMS syndrome, spent 18 months in hospital before becoming a resident at Laura Fergusson Trust.
"When I first came here I couldn't do much in the gym, but the pool kept me buoyant and I could walk in the water and do all kinds of things I couldn't do on dry land."
She says the 34C water allowed her to exercise more effectively. "I miss it because the pool was the one place I could really stretch out and where my body could tolerate a lot more movement. There's nowhere else in Auckland I can do that."
Opened in March 1998, the pool operated seven days a week and was available for community groups to hire. On-site physiotherapist Sandie Alexander says it allowed clients in wheelchairs to enjoy the feeling of being upright and the warm water meant, even with little movement, they wouldn't get too cold.
"It's a beautiful environment when it's working," she says.
Unfortunately, that warm environment led to the facility closing.
"Our maintenance man is a builder by trade and last year he noticed some changes," says Ms Alexander.
Closer inspection of those changes revealed structural failure in the roof caused by the high humidity. The pool was closed immediately; the cost to replace the roof and walls is estimated to be $560,000.
The director of fundraising, Gillian Eagle, says the trust has raised $300,000 for the pool through donations and grants and now needs $160,000 to begin the repairs. "We're just so close and, almost every day, we get people ringing up to see if the pool is open yet. We know that for a lot of people their progress has gone downhill since the pool closed."
Ms Eagle is disappointed an application this month to Maungakiekie Community Board for discretionary funding was unsuccessful as the pool is deemed not to be a specifically local cause.
"I thought it would be a good application but I was told we were [a service for] greater Auckland and now we're too late to apply for the city funding."
Application dates for some Auckland City Council funding rounds were brought forward because of the transition to the new unitary council in November.
Dip into your pocket
To help the hydrotherapy pool re-open, you can donate via internet banking to: Laura Fergusson Trust Incorporated, ASB, 12-3030-0497154-04, or send a cheque to PO Box 17-045, Greenlane, Auckland, 1546.