“How Hard Is It To Build A Fucking Pool?” Says Sydney

CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT

The people of Sydney are this week exhaling after a torturous federal election campaign that saw major swings towards the incumbent government across the country.

With the Albanese re-elected by a landslide margin, the residents of his hometown are now redirecting attention to their own backyard.

Namely, this fucking pool.

In the shadow of the Harbour Bridge, and located directly next door to Lunar Park, the North Sydney Olympic Pool has been a landmark for nearly 100 years.

In a city experiencing extreme housing stress, and enough road tolls and parking fines to keep a single mum in poverty forever, questions are now being raised about the competencies of local government.

The number one issue that seems to be on everyone’s mind is how fucking hard is it to do up a pool.

The iconic public facility opened on 4 April 1936, and hosted the swimming and diving events for the 1938 Empire Games. Despite it’s name, it has never hosted an Olympics event.

Heating was added in 2000 and a 25-metre indoor pool was built in 2001. Throughout the years it has maintained it’s art deco charm, and hosted millions of young families.

The pool closed on 28 February 2021 to take advantage of the COVID-19 closures to begin construction of a replacement pool and new amenities.

It was scheduled to reopen in 2023, but the pool remains unfinished.

The fact that the first iteration of this pool was built during the Great Depression only makes Sydneysiders angrier about how difficult this hopeless refurbishment has been.

In even more infuriating news, the construction company that won the contract to rebuild the pool is taking the local council to court, seeking $28 million, they allege council breached its contract with repeated design revisions of the roof structure, which was pulled down due to “significant flaws” in 2023.

All up, the budget has blown out to $122 million. To build a fucking pool.

With the pandemic-era ‘supply chain’ issues no longer a decent excuse, and sickening amount of public money having already been poured into the project, including a war chest of pork barreling grants that were meant for regional sports facilities, it seems that nothing can change the fact that an entire generation of kids have missed out on swimming lessons.