Redevelopment of Jellie Park begins on Monday
17 May 2007
Work begins this Monday (21 May) on the $12 million redevelopment of Jellie Park. The project is expected to take 56 weeks to complete, the new aquatic facility scheduled to re-open mid 2008.
Today’s Christchurch City Council meeting awarded the construction contract to Mainzeal Property and Construction Ltd, the company which undertook the successful redevelopment of the Pioneer Leisure Centre in 1999 and refurbishment of QEII in 2003.
Recreation and Sports Manager John Filsell says the redevelopment of Jellie Park is significant for Christchurch, being the first of four new world-class aquatic facilities planned for the city during the next 13 years under the Council’s Aquatic Facilities Plan.
It is the first city-wide plan, looking at the city’s needs for the next 30 years and developing a network of facilities that provide Christchurch and Banks Peninsula residents with year-round access to aquatic activities for a healthy, active lifestyle.
Mr Filsell says the redeveloped Jellie Park facility will have four indoor pools, an outdoor pool, new gymnasium and aerobics suite and new changing facilities.
The four indoor pools will be:
A new 25m, eight-lane, 2m-deep water pool suitable for aquatic sports.
A new toddlers’ pool.
The existing 25m, eight-lane indoor pool built in 1989 will be refurbished with three lanes raised to a consistent depth of 1m for Learn to Swim classes.
An existing learners’ pool will be refurbished.
The project also includes a new recreational water feature to complement the outdoor hydroslides built in 1984.
Jellie Park’s outdoor swimming pool has already undergone a $500,000 refurbishment, reinforcing the Council’s commitment to providing world-class outdoor recreation facilities.
"Jellie Park is renowned as a great family facility with its outdoor summer pool and its successful swim education classes, The redevelopment will only serve to enhance its reputation, establishing it as the anchor facility for west Christchurch, as QEII is for the east," Mr Filsell says.
"When Jellie Park opened in 1964, it was New Zealand’s lido-style outdoor swimming pool. When Jellie Park re-opens in mid 2008 it will have returned to its status as a state-of-the-art complex."
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