The Wanaka Community Pool will not reopen on August 30 as initially hoped, as more problems have emerged with the 18-year-old facility and its plant, Lakes Leisure facilities general manager Cam Sheppard said yesterday.
"I don't want a patch. I want to sort it out now, rather than put up with hassles [later]," he said.
The pool closed for a scheduled maintenance period of six weeks in early July.
The scheduled programme is costing about $345,000 and includes a new heating system powered by a woodchip-fed boiler, an air-conditioning system, to reduce condensation, and a new coat of anti-slip water-resistant paint for the floor.
The pool also had an unscheduled closure in April when the ageing pump system failed and had to be replaced.
New insulation covers were also installed at that time.
The improvements are needed to prolong the life of the pool, because the council decided last year it could economically justify building an $11.8 million aquatic centre for Wanaka within the next 10 years.
A woodchip boiler and some pieces of the ventilation system have not yet arrived to be installed. Time is also needed to allow the joining materials between concrete slabs in the pool tank to dry.
However, floor painting has been completed and inside ventilation systems have been installed.
Mr Sheppard said some other issues also needed to be resolved, which he would try to explain next week, when he had more information from the council.
"We have come across a few more issues than we had hoped for. But it has given us the opportunity to fix them . . . Some of the information I only got last night. I can't release all the information yet, but I can say the pool is not going to be open on August 30," he said.
The maintenance budget allows for contingencies and it was not yet clear whether more money would be needed, he said.
