AC Baths’ leisure pool and slides to close temporarily for maintenance

Darren Petry from Taupō District Council

The AC Baths’ leisure pool and hydroslides will close for 10 days this month for essential maintenance to be carried out.

The pool is scheduled to close at 2pm on Sunday, March 21 and reopen on Tuesday, March 30 at 6am when the complex opens.

About a million litres of water will have to be pumped out of the leisure pool to allow the first major maintenance and closure at the AC Baths since its refurbishment in 2013.

Business operations manager Scott Attenborough said the work would encompass replacing all the tiles around the bombing island and on the entry stairs, replacing disintegrating lining in the “water overflow” areas of the pool, the repair of pipes and valves and the cleaning and inspection of areas inaccessible when the pool is full.

He said two lanes of the outdoor 25m pool would be opened for public and leisure use from 10.30am to 3.30pm and from 6pm to closing each day during the closure to allow a space for leisure pool activity while avoiding peak outdoor 25m lane pool times.

“It’s unfortunate we need to shut the leisure pool for ten days to complete this work – but the silver lining is a refreshed, functional leisure pool at the end of it where everything is in working order,” he said. “The most visible result will be at the bombing island, where tiles are in a state of disrepair.”

The maintenance was originally scheduled for mid to late 2020, but emergency work on the indoor 25m pool took precedence last year so the leisure pool maintenance was moved to March of this year. The closure timing was to avoid school holidays and have the work completed when the weather was likely to be fairly dry.

The learn-to-swim pool, indoor and outdoor 25m pools and saunas would remain open. All aqua shallow classes normally held in the leisure pool from Monday March 22 to Monday March 29 had been cancelled and would resume Wednesday, March 31 as per the timetable. There would be no change to the aqua deep classes, which would be held as normal in the indoor 25m pool.

The maintenance has been planned and budgeted for in the Long-term Plan 2018-2028.