Revamped pool building finally handed back
Refurbishment work at Mid Argyll’s only public indoor pool is finally complete, writes Fiona Ross.
After years of fundraising, 14 months of construction work and repeated delays the Lochgilphead facility has officially been handed over from the builders to Mid Argyll Community Enterprises Limited.
With the building warrant now in place the doors to the pool and soft-play area should open on Monday May 16.
The redevelopment project was planned following consultation with the Mid Argyll community to provide better changing facilities, soft play for smaller children, a café, meeting place and a therapy room.
The refurbishment was originally expected to be completed by October 2021, but material supply issues and other glitches amid the pandemic meant this was pushed back to January.
Then unforeseen difficulties – including a previously undetected leak within the existing pool roof – forced a further delay to the handover date, which moved to March 2022 and then Easter.
And at the end of March it transpired that extra work would be required to pass the building warrant stage, pushing the completion date back further.
Now MACPool community enterprise chairman John Gurr has confirmed that everything is in place for the reopening.
He said: ‘We have finally been handed back a completed building at the end of April and I would like to thank everybody who has worked so hard to make this happen.’
The MACPool Hub manager Fiona MacAlpine added: ‘It is really good news that after a year without a pool, we are going to be welcoming our swimmers back and we will be able to offer soft play for pre-school children and a new café too. If you have passed the pool in the past few weeks you will have seen the scaffolding is down the outside area has been repaired repainted and we have new signage.
‘We are planning to open the pool and soft play from May 16 with an official opening on May 28. All facilities including the café will then be fully open to the public from Monday May 30.’
The MACPool management is looking to recruit lifeguards and also has some part-time cleaner vacancies. Details of these vacancies as well as opening times and new activities can be found on MACPool’s website, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.