My childhood swimming pool has barely changed. Sydney needs more like it |
The suburban pool in southern Sydney where I learnt to swim was a simple affair. Built in the 1970s, it featured a small kiosk selling hot chips and ice-blocks, basic change rooms and a grassy hill, covered by shadecloth and dotted with palm trees, that sloped down to three outdoor pools.
Like so many youngsters raised in Australia, I spent hours at my local public pool; first gripping onto paddleboards as I learnt to kick and breathe in the water, slowly building my skills and confidence, and later churning through laps in the 50-metre pool practising for school swimming carnivals.
Engadine Leisure Centre in Sydney’s southern suburbs features several outdoor pools and a grassy hill.Credit: Good Thanks Media
Decades later, the modest Engadine Leisure Centre of my childhood memories remains largely unchanged. As Sydney gets hotter, denser and more expensive to live in, we need more like it.
On the other side of the harbour, the $122 million North Sydney Olympic Pool is nearing completion after a disastrous five-year revamp frustrated by scope creep, cost overruns and delays. It is due to open in a few months – three years late and more than $60 million above an initial budget estimate.
The project is an extreme example of a wicked problem facing the state’s local governments: The civic pools built throughout........