Costs rise and delays lengthen in North Sydney Olympic Pool rebuild project

The redevelopment of the North Sydney Olympic Pool is unlikely to see the facility reopen until April 2024 - 18 months later than originally planned - while project costs have increased by more than $30 million with total spending on the rebuild set to reach at least $89 million.

The latest example of building costs at a Sydney aquatic facility going massively over budget, a report on problems with the project was presented to local North Sydney Councillors at a meeting last week.

The independent report, commissioned by the Council last October and conducted by consultants PwC, detailed the multimillion-dollar cost blowouts and delays to the controversial redevelopment of famous Olympic swimming pool that sits beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

North Sydney Councillor MaryAnn Beregi, a long-time critic of the project, told the Council meeting last week that the report “absolutely vindicates everything I said in the last council with this project”.

“It was handled appallingly. I hold my tongue when I say, I told you so, but I did.

“We tried and tried to call the majority of the former council to at least listen, and to hear what we had to say, which was only in the best interests of North Sydney and the ratepayers.”

The PwC review, found the $64 million budget did not consider all costs associated with project, such as internal project management, equipment and fit-outs, and did not provide sufficient contingency. The review was also critical of the council’s decision to manage the large and complex project internally, and its rush to sign the construction contract with developer Icon on New Year’s Eve in 2020.

Councillor Jilly Gibson, who was Mayor when the redevelopment was approved, said the review was flawed and omitted relevant information.

Gibson said the consultants’ report had “grossly” underestimated the effects of the pandemic and La Nina on the budget and timeframe, and focused on “everything that they thought had gone wrong”.

Independent Mayor Zoe Baker, who raised concerns about the scale of the project as a Councillor, said the findings of the independent review were “unfortunately not a surprise”, noting that they would “act as a catalyst for the current council to address the cost overruns and time delays”.

Work on the redevelopment - which includes upgrades to the indoor and outdoor pools, and building a new 970-seat grandstand, children’s water play area and expanded gym - began in March 2021.

In 2020, the Council said that the cost to ratepayers of the redevelopment had ballooned from $58 million to at least $64 million.

At that time, the rebuild was expected to be completed in November 2022.

Opened in 1936, the North Sydney Olympic Pool took 36 weeks to build and cost £47,000, about $12 million today.

It was the first pool in Australia to purify sea water and used advanced technology for the time.

It hosted the Empire Games in 1938 and 1958, and 86 world records in swimming and diving have been set in the pool.

Images: Work in progress on the North Sydney Olympic Pool (top) and the concept for how the facility will look when the rebuild is complete (below).