Editorial: Making a splash with pools upgrade

For those of us who used to shiver outdoors in the stands during school swimming sports at the Aquatic Centre's only pool, the facility certainly seems to have come a long way in the intervening decades.

The outdoor pool now has neighbours, including two large indoor pools, several hot pools and a playground among other things.

Now the council is looking at a multimillion-dollar upgrade.

It aims to "identify opportunities to capture new markets and the extent to which facilities should be upgraded and new attractions added".

It's obviously early days but frequent users will welcome this news.

We asked Rotorua residents what they'd like to see at a new-look Aquatic Centre.

Answers included hydroslides, a wave pool and a cafe.

These are all great suggestions and I think, having seen the popularity of these in other centres, both bigger and smaller, the addition of any one of these, if not all, could well prove a bonus for both the punters and the coffers.

Of course, only so much is possible within the budget, but that's why it's important that when the time comes locals have their say on the facility's future.

That way the improvements can make a big splash with the public.