While the doors have been temporarily closed due to COVID-19, Council has been busy completing several maintenance and improvement projects at its two major aquatic facilities, Casey ARC and Casey RACE.
Most of these works had been scheduled to occur over a period of years, however with the temporary closures in place, a number of projects were brought forward and completed earlier to minimise disruption to users over the long term.
At Casey RACE, retiling work has been completed on the 50-metre pool, warm water pool, leisure pool, toddler pool and the space bowl pool. Renovations to the spa, steam and sauna areas are currently underway and are expected to be complete later this year.
The stairs and balustrade leading to the slide tower have been replaced, in addition to painting in the main pool hall, health club and office areas.
Foundation work has also begun on upgrading the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system throughout the entire facility. These works are expected to take approximately 10 months with minimal disruptions to members once the facility is reopened.
At Casey ARC, the wet deck male and female change room upgrades have been completed, with new ‘no touch’ showers installed. The sand in 3 filters has been replaced for the warm water pool, in addition to painting the main pool hall and office areas.
The large fan in the pool hall has also been replaced with 16 new fans that will enable more fresh air to circulate and create significant energy savings for the facility.
Council has also approved a major upgrade of Casey ARC which will include a total roof replacement, upgrading the solar panels and building a wall between the aquatics pool hall and entrance areas to enable 24/7 gym access to the Health Club in the future.
The roof replacement is critical maintenance work that Council would have had to undertake next year, however it was brought forward to take advantage of the enforced closure of the facility. The existing 44Kw solar panel system will be upgraded to a 350Kw output to operate the facilities plant and help reduce the carbon footprint.
Council is currently reviewing Tenders for the Casey ARC project with work to begin as soon as possible once a contractor is appointed and taking 12-16 weeks to complete.
Casey’s Chair of Administrators Noelene Duff PSM said while it was never good for community facilities to be shut for prolonged periods, it was sensible to take advantage of the enforced closure to complete work more quickly and efficiently than could be achieved otherwise.
“We are always conscious of minimising disruption to users of our facilities and while this temporary closure has been unfortunate, we’ve made the best of the situation and have managed to get a lot of projects completed,” Ms Duff said.
“Like everyone else in the community, we are looking forward to restrictions being lifted and welcoming everyone back to our facilities.
“While Casey ARC will be unavailable for a little longer, we expect to get a good head start on this project while it is temporarily closed. This will mean less disruption for users in the long term.”
Based on the current roadmap out of restrictions, Doveton Pool in the Park is expected to open for the summer season as usual from1 December 2020 to 31 March 2021.
The open hours are 11:30am to 7:30pm and aligned to a trigger temperature of 30 degrees or higher for the facility to open. Council is working with YMCA to provide additional access to ARC user groups and the community on regular weeknights, while the roof replacement works occur at Casey ARC. Check the pool’s social media pages for regular updates www.facebook.com/dovetonpoolinthepark/
