A function centre and new accessible change rooms are a step closer for Horsham Aquatic Centre (HAC) after Horsham Rural City Council awarded a construction contract to a local builder.
RA Plazzer Pty Ltd was the successful tenderer will start construction in the middle of 2023.
The project is part of the 2017 Horsham Aquatic Centre Master Plan, with three accessible family change rooms and one fully accessible change room to be built on the Hamilton Street side of the facility.
There will also be an undercover outdoor function space for events such as birthday parties.
Mayor Robyn Gulline said the project would deliver several important outcomes for the community.
Built in 2007, HAC currently has two small accessible/family change rooms, with only one of these located in the indoor aquatic area. This does not provide sufficient room when more than one carer is required which restricts the use of the facility by those who are profoundly disabled.
“The new change spaces will provide more room for manoeuvrability, increase comfort and lessen anxiety and that will encourage more people with significant mobility issues to participate,” Cr Gulline said.
“The current facility lacks a family change area to provide the space and privacy for a family group to change. The Manager of the Aquatic Centre has indicated that during peak times there are a number of families and users with diverse needs lining up to access the one, small accessible change room.”
Cr Gulline said contemporary leisure facilities now offered more than just a place to swim, they were a destination and a place to gather and socialise.
“The outdoor function centre will extend the roofline to cater for the function space which can be accessed either from the indoor pool pavilion or from outside via glass folding doors,” she said.
“This construction work will make the centre accessible for use by people of all ages and abilities, and it will, with the construction of the outdoor function room, create an additional community space,” Cr Gulline said.
The cost of the project’s construction is $950,000. Council successfully applied for a grant of $331,000 via the Federal Government’s Building Better Regions Fund program in May 2021 and allocated the balance of funds from its 2021-22 Budget.
