Lease for Olympic Pool & Fitness Centre in doubt: Newmarket Business Association hopeful drawcard remains

The future of The Olympic Pool & Fitness Centre in Newmarket is in doubt, prompting concerns from one local business leader it could spell the loss of a pivotal drawcard.

The uncertainty comes after Auckland Council voted on August 1 to keep running some of its pools itself and continue leasing other leisure centres to private operators. The council has begun working with those operators to extend leases until the end of next March, but The Olympic has been excluded from this.

The decision on The Olympic’s lease will be considered separately by the Waitematā Local Board. In the meantime, the lease for the pool - opened in 1939, host to the British Empire Games in 1950 and privatised in 1994 - will run out on November 2.

Pool director Peter Rust told the Herald there was “a great deal of anxiety among staff in particular, but also users and members” because “we don’t know ... and want to be informed about” the future of the lease.

The Olympic Pool & Fitness Centre on Broadway in Newmarket. Photo / Jason Dorday

Rust said it was unclear what would happen to the site should the lease be allowed to lapse in November.

Newmarket Business Association chief executive Mark Knoff-Thomas told the Herald he was optimistic Auckland Council and the local board would “do the right thing” and offer the pool management company a new, extended lease.

“The Olympic Pool is a very important part of the Newmarket community and plays a pivotal role in bringing people in,” Knoff-Thomas said.

“The gym, the pool and the other facilities - they are vital for our community, and we think they’ve been run very successfully for many, many years and it should continue as it is now.

“I think [it would be] a blow for Aucklanders in general [if it were to close].

Up to 7000 people visit The Olympic each week. It was the first 50m swimming pool in New Zealand, initially built as an open-air facility.

Historic Auckland: The Olympic Baths in Newmarket, Auckland on January 17, 1950.

“The Olympic Pool doesn’t take any money from the council to run. It costs Auckland ratepayers $0. It is one of the best-run facilities of its type around the country - so they should be rewarded for that and given what they need, in terms of a long lease, to be able to invest in it properly,” Knoff-Thomas said.

Rust said having the certainty of a lease, particularly for a relatively long period, would buoy confidence for The Olympic Pool & Fitness Centre Limited to reinvest about a million dollars into planned improvements and refurbishments.

He said the company had been trying to negotiate a long lease so it could invest in capital works for the past five years, “and that has been sitting there with no decision for years”.

The Waitematā Local Board is waiting for advice from Auckland Council before deciding on the lease.

Mark Knoff-Thomas, chief executive of the Newmarket Business Association in Auckland. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Rust was frustrated and anxious as he said there had been minimal communication between the board, the council and the company.

Rust said: “There seems to be some stonewalling going on as to making a decision. There are several board members who want to see some resolution of the matter.”

“But clearly there is a very big split there and a difference in thinking, so it’s a matter of trying to convince some people that this is the way to go. But they seem to be very reluctant to make any decision collectively.”

Auckland Council director Rachel Kelleher said council staff “are currently developing advice for the Waitematā Local Board. This includes providing clarity on the local board’s options, alongside financial considerations, alignment with regional aquatic objectives and leasing policies”.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.