{"id":359265,"date":"2026-04-01T22:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T22:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/359265\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T22:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T22:28:09","slug":"taurangas-memorial-pool-to-close-after-last-splash-this-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/359265\/","title":{"rendered":"Tauranga\u2019s Memorial Pool to close after last splash this Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bay Venues chief executive Chad Hooker said in the release that Memorial Pool, which was built in 1955, has significant infrastructure- and age-related issues and was not used enough to support the cost of keeping it open.<\/p>\n

\u201cKey issues with the pool include significant leaks and ongoing issues with the heating system that regularly result in expensive remedial and maintenance costs, along with booking cancellations and delayed pool openings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tauranga Mayor Mah\u00e9 Drysdale said while it was sad to see a much-loved community asset coming to its end of life, the proposed new facility would be a significant upgrade.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know how important aquatic facilities are for the people of Tauranga and are committed to building additional facilities for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the council approved $50,000<\/a> to develop new concept designs for the new facility. <\/p>\n

This came after the council paused a prior $105 million plan \u2013 developed during the commissioners\u2019 era \u2013 over concerns it did not offer value for money.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn artist’s impression of the canned $105 million Memorial Park Aquatic Centre design. Image \/ Tauranga City Council<\/p>\n

There was no estimate for the full new project cost yet.<\/p>\n

Drysdale said work on the new concept design was underway, guided by a project steering group that included councillors and subject-matter experts. <\/p>\n

The redevelopment proposed a modern aquatic facility designed for lane swimming, aquatic sports, hydrotherapy, learn-to-swim programmes and family recreation.<\/p>\n

The council was also working with the Mount Maunganui Aquatic Centre Trust to create a 50-metre outdoor training pool at Mount Maunganui College. Drysdale said it was expected to open next summer.<\/p>\n

In December, the council approved a loan-funded grant of more than $5m to support extending the college\u2019s pool from 33m to 50m.<\/p>\n

The pool was more than 60 years old and was essentially \u201changing on\u201d, college principal Alastair Sinton said last year.<\/p>\n

The council also agreed to provide ongoing support to subsidise community use of the pool.<\/p>\n

Drysdale said the council had also committed to keeping \u014ct\u016bmoetai Pool open and carrying out required upgrades over the coming years.<\/p>\n

\"OtumoetaiOtumoetai Pool was saved from closure.<\/p>\n

Early last year, the council voted to invest $5.71m<\/a> between 2027 and 2033 for maintenance and upgrades of that pool, previously slated for closure.<\/p>\n

The plantroom and filtration system would be upgraded and pool entry ramps added to increase accessibility.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s public pool network also includes the Baywave and Greerton aquatic centres. The council also owns Mount Hot Pools, but this is closed indefinitely after being damaged by the January 22 Mauao landslide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The council was expected to confirm its preferred timeline and funding approach for the Memorial Park Aquatic Centre through the upcoming Annual Plan process.<\/p>\n

Memorial Pool free entry<\/p>\n

Entry to Memorial Pool will be free all Easter weekend (Friday \u2013 Monday). <\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be free inflatables and plenty of fun on offer for the whole family, so come along and have one last splash,\u201d Hooker said in the council media release.<\/p>\n

It will be closed to public swimmers from Tuesday, with a final Pooch in the Pool community event to be held next Saturday for dog lovers and their four-legged companions, following the lowering of water levels and removal of chlorine. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bay Venues chief executive Chad Hooker said in the release that Memorial Pool, which was built in 1955,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,651,171628,685,19872,111,43,139,69,5198,131833,37865,1961,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-359265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-close","10":"tag-easter","11":"tag-last","12":"tag-memorial","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-pool","18":"tag-splash","19":"tag-taurangas","20":"tag-this","21":"tag-to"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}