“Any unforeseeable delays” notwithstanding, the Newlands swimming pool is set to finally reopen mid-March – almost four years after the public facility was first closed for repairs.
According to a News24 report (“City of Cape Town to reopen Newlands swimming pool after R10 m revamp”, 29 October 2021), the City had planned on opening the pool in early December last year.
Patricia van der Ross, Mayco member for Community Services and Health, says the condition of the swimming pool was far worse than they first thought, causing a delay in progress.
“The pool is older than 60 years and this was the first major revamp and upgrade to the facility and swimming pool the City embarked on. Underground conditions were worse than anticipated, thus additional unforeseen work had to be done, which forced the extension of the project,” says Van der Ross.
She shares the most recent hold-up was due to infrastructural challenges in the filtration plant room area. Old asbestos pipes and infrastructure had to be replaced and there was lead time on specialist items (out-of-stock) required. In addition, Newlands swimming pool is a significant heritage facility, which meant that the contractor had to comply with certain heritage requirements.
The anticipated completion for the upgrading of the plant room is Monday 28 February.
Van der Ross says, the City is on track to meet the February deadline and is recording any unforeseeable delays, which arise during the programme.
“Thereafter, certain operational and Occupational Health and Safety matters need to be implemented to ensure the facility is compliant before opening to the public. Once the facility is deemed compliant, the anticipated opening date scheduled is mid-March,” she says.
Newlands swimming pool was closed to the public in 2017 during what has been described as the Western Cape’s worst drought in more than a century.
Due to the age of the pool and numerous leaks that had occurred over time due to ageing infrastructure, the pool was losing large amounts of water. Van der Ross says at the time of the drought, the pool could not open as potable water was valuable.
“It was identified that the pool required a major upgrade in order to save water by addressing the leaks and ageing infrastructure,” she says, adding that the entire pool basin had structural deficiencies and was unsafe.
What followed was an R10 million revamp project. This included the rehabilitation of the entire pool basin, the tiling of the basin and the replacement of all the underground pipes and related infrastructure. Upgrade and compliance repairs to the electrical infrastructure were also required, as were major repairs to the plant room and grandstand area.
The ablutions were also upgraded.
Van der Ross says, besides general maintenance, such as painting and waterproofing, there were also internal changes made inside the grandstand area to accommodate operational requirements for the swimming pool.
“And, where possible, lease arrangements are planned to relieve the City from the operations and maintenance burden into perpetuity,” says Van der Ross.
Newlands swimming pool for many years has been a popular spot for professionals to train, recreational swimming, school and club galas, water polo and diving. The department for community services and health confirms it has already received requests for events and various activities at the facility, but none have yet been confirmed.
“The Newlands and Bellville swimming pools are the only 50 m swimming pools within the City of Cape Town and the Newlands pool represents a massive infrastructural and social investment. The repairs and maintenance underway were needed to secure this investment and ensure that future generations can have access to this special community and City facility,” concludes Van der Ross.
