The Sir Stephen Tindall Pool at Takapuna Grammar School.
The Sir Stephen Tindall Pool at Takapuna Grammar School.
Warehouse founder, philanthropist and businessman Sir Stephen Tindall has helped fund a $2 million-plus upgrade of the Takapuna Grammar School swimming pool, to be reopened soon.
Tindall, once a pupil, helped pay for renovations of the pool, built nearly 60 years ago.
“Sir Stephen Tindall has already committed to thisvaluable project, which is why we are naming it the Sir Stephen Tindall Pool,” the school said.
A spokeswoman for Tindall said he did not wish to comment on the pool contribution.
Jeff Vivian of Vivian Construction said his company started work on the pool last November and completed it in April, ready for the reopening this coming Term 3.
The Takapuna Grammar School pool is filled and ready to be used during Term 3.
The changing sheds were renovated, a new electrical heating system was installed, new concrete surrounds were built and foundations were laid for a roof to eventually be built.
Sir Stephen Tindall. Photo / Brett Phibbs
That roof is also to have solar panels to fuel water heating in the future, Vivian said. The pool is now floodlit and has a new filtration system as well as water polo goals.
Jeff Vivian and his brother Matt went to the school. Jeff’s daughter is a student there and he said the project was close to his heart.
Landscaping and final finishing is now being carried out around the refurbished, fully heated pool.
However, it was also extremely challenging because large pools can “pop out of the ground” when emptied of water.
“We excavated the ground around the entire pool to the base but had to ensure the pool all stayed intact. So we would dig 4m across, reinforce that section of the pool, fill the ground back up and then dig another 4m. We had to do it in sections like that,” Vivian said.
The pool was deepened by 70cm to be 2.2m at the deep end to enable it to be used for water polo, he said. A new balance tank was also installed.
Takapuna Grammar principal Mary Nixon.
Principal Mary Nixon said pupils would begin using the pool in the first few weeks of Term 3, which starts on July 14.
“It’s not completed yet. It’s an old pool and we have changed it so it’s suitable for more activities,” she said.
Michael Sweetman, a school board member, represented the school as head of its property committee on the upgrade.
Tindall has the biggest share of that healthcare business with two hospitals, his stake held via Albert Park Trustee Company with 41% of Healthcare Holdings, which trades as Allevia Health.
Takapuna Grammar School. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The school said the pool upgrade would mean it could now be used all year round by students and community groups.
Past students include singers Lorde and Gin Wigmore, Olympic medallist Eliza McCartney, the late Sir Peter Blake, late playwright Bruce Mason, Commonwealth Games medallist Jacko Gill and businesswoman Diane Foreman.
Lorde's Solar Power album cover. Photo / lorde.co.nz
Tindall is not the only donor.
The school encouraged others to give, saying late last year it was seeking $300,000 and if people gave large sums like $10,000 their names would be commemorated.
“Water safety is at the heart of the project, with the goal to achieve swimming competency for 10,000 students over the next 10 years,” the school said.
The pool has not been heated in the past and therefore could only be used in Terms 1 and 4.
Heating would mean the pool could be used throughout the year, it said.
Swimming programmes would be available for student swimmers and physical education classes to help build water confidence, fitness and swimming proficiency.
Vivian Construction showed progress at the revamped and upgraded Takapuna Grammar School pool in March. Photo / Instagram
Pool cross-training opportunities would also be provided year-round for sports teams including rugby, football and rowing, it said.
New sports and activities could be introduced, including surf lifesaving, triathlon, diving and waterwise.
A partnership with the Devonport Swim Club would mean training and coaching could be made available to students and the community. The swim club had committed to a three-year licence to run swim squads at the upgraded pool, the school said.
Construction started pre-Christmas, with a target of opening early this year.
In the summer Vivian Construction showed painting work being done on the reconstructed pool.
The school said a deepened, heated pool would end the need for hundreds of trips annually for students to AUT Millennium Pool in Rosedale, the Glenfield Pool and Leisure Centre and other pools.
Converting cleaning methods from chemical to salt chlorination would reduce the need to store hazardous substances and mean lower operating costs, it said.
Nixon said there was as yet no official date for the pool reopening.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald‘s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
