Two of Masterton’s Trust House Recreation Centre pools will close temporarily for maintenance in the cooler months.
Work on the five-lane and seven-lane pools will take place in April and May and will be staggered.
The five-lane pool will be closed for a week from April 22 while filters are replaced in the air conditioning, and a new compressor is installed for heating the pool.
Following this work, the seven-lane pool, lazy river, and associated changing rooms will be closed for three weeks from 6pm on April 28 to enable the changing room to be re-floored, replacement of air conditioning filters, cleaning of the ceiling, replacement of damaged tiles, silicon replacement for expansion joints, and re-grouting, where required.
During work on the seven-lane pool, lane swimming sessions and aqua classes will continue in the five-lane pool, as well as swim lessons and the Masterton Swim Club.
Masterton District Council’s [MDC] infrastructure and assets manager Maseina Koneferenisi said there is no option but to close each pool when work is underway.
“We appreciate this will cause some disruption for pool users, but this type of work is not possible when pools are in use.
“We hope that by staggering the work we will minimise disruption but we want to thank people for their patience during this period. We’re confident that pool users will appreciate the improvements when work is complete.”
The total cost of the work is around $150,000.
The dive pool continues to be closed as the leak in the pipes connecting the dive pool to the balance tank remains unfixed.
MDC announced in late December that the pool was closed due to the identified leak – as the Times-Age reported at the time, the pool complex was losing a staggering 48,000 litres of water a day, at a time when water restrictions were in place.
In a recent statement from MDC, it has confirmed the pool will remain closed for “the foreseeable future,” with no reopening time frame being available.
“Considerable excavation would be required to address the issue, and given the scale of work required, it is prudent to consider this as part of a wider strategy for sports facilities,” it said.
MDC also confirmed that a strategy for sports and recreation facilities is planned to take place.
The outdoor swimming pools were always full of families and a great Masterton attraction. It’s been many years since they have been like that 😪. If it’s indoor only now then put something 🤔 that works for Masterton? A museum or something but it’s a complete waste of valuable space at present.