The $80 million facility, according to Labor, would be erected by 2026 and funded and maintained by the state government rather than the Adelaide City Council, which currently operates the facility.
If the South Australian opposition wins next month’s state election, it promises to reconstruct the Adelaide Aquatic Centre.
The current center, according to Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas, is in desperate need of an update, with several portions shuttered.
He stated that the new facility would be erected on or near the existing site in North Adelaide, and that no parkland would be lost as a result of the plan.
“If we can build it on the exact, current site, we’ll do it,” he said, “but we want to make sure that it’s consistent with engineering studies and community participation.”
“One of the disadvantages of developing on the same site is that we would have to close the existing center while we construct the new one.”
In 2019, the Adelaide Football Club made an unsolicited approach to take over the centre, but it was rejected after COVID-19 put it in a financial bind.
Treasurer Rob Lucas said the state government has been in talks with the council for a “significant amount of time” about jointly funding a replacement aquatic center with federal assistance.
