Rotorua Aquatic Centre indoor leisure pool to reopen after delays

The indoor leisure pool at the Rotorua Aquatic Centre is set to reopen next week.

The indoor facility was due to reopen last month but an issue with the pump meant the leisure pool could not be heated to the required temperature, Rotorua Lakes Council said in a statement.

This has now been fixed by contractors and the leisure pool, change facilities, gym and Splash Cafe will open to the public on Monday.

This followed an earlier delay after some of the original buried pipework under both pools had been identified during inspections, adding a couple of additional weeks to the project timeline.

Work on the Rotorua Aquatic Centre indoor facility. Photo / Rotorua Lakes Council

The council said contractors expected the main indoor pool to be ready in early July.

The facility closed in November 2022 for stage two of the centre’s $23.45 million refurbishment, which included an upgrade to the indoor pool hall, reception and indoor changing room area.

The outdoor 50m pool and changing facilities were refurbished in stage one, which cost $3.9m and finished in 2021.

During Long-Term Plan deliberations last week, the council decided further aquatic centre upgrades would be pushed to year two of the plan and $200,000 would go towards a preliminary design for a revised scope, exploring partnership and other funding options, and consulting with the community.

Councillors also directed chief executive Andrew Moraes to negotiate with the Department of Internal Affairs to allow redirection of $2.5m of the Government’s Better Off funding towards wastewater or core infrastructure work.

If this were not to eventuate, the council approved it to be spent on the revised aquatic centre plan.

The council is scheduled to formally adopt its Long-Term Plan on June 26.