Five years of painstaking renovation. Countless delays. A $122m bill for the taxpayer.<\/p>\n
Finally, the North Sydney Olympic Pool has reopened \u2014 and it\u2019s beguiling. <\/p>\n
The beloved facility, where swimming greats like Dawn Fraser and Shane Gould broke world records, reopened to much fanfare on Friday<\/a>. <\/p>\n The pool shut in 2021 for a major refurb.<\/p>\n News.com.au visited during the grand reopening and was stunned by what it found.<\/p>\n The revamped site has a plush, new spa, sauna and steam room, an unashamedly modern gym with all the gadgets you can imagine, group fitness studios, and a sundeck with unforgettable views of Sydney Harbour, as well as a gelato bar.<\/p>\n But the true beauty lay outside in the form of an historic 50-metre outdoor heated swimming pool that looks directly at the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It\u2019s here that some 86 swimming world records were smashed.<\/p>\n The pool is surrounded by heritage Art Deco walls with restored neoclassic stucco motifs. Original 1930s bricks were salvaged and reused wherever possible, or they replaced by hand-painted ones to match the original 1930s brickwork, according to North Sydney Council.<\/p>\n There are brass frogs throughout the facility in ode to the original frog motifs on the Eastern Stair Tower, terracotta tiling in the outdoor pool area and a children\u2019s pool area fit for fun summer days.<\/p>\n The outdoor pool is filled with treated saltwater drawn from Sydney Harbour.<\/p>\n North Sydney Council was handed the keys to the pool by developer Icon in May 22 and worked to get it operational.<\/p>\n The facility is free of charge throughout the opening weekend, from August 7-9, with no ticket required.<\/p>\n After that, casual visits are expected to cost $11, while passes for multiple entries and gym memberships will set you back $37 a week.<\/p>\n he gates opened at 2.30pm on Friday, giving the public its first access to the redeveloped site after a project that grew into one of Sydney\u2019s most debated council builds.<\/p>\n But has the cost and time really been worth it?<\/p>\n \u2018I feel for the residents\u2019<\/p>\n Phil Brown, 41, said he couldn\u2019t justify spending $122m on \u201cjust a swimming pool.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGreat views, though. But, I feel for the residents, if they\u2019re having to pay for that,\u201d he told news.com.au.<\/p>\n \u201cIf that\u2019s what it\u2019s mostly about \u2014 the vantage point and the view \u2014 then you can enjoy the views without being in the pool.\u201d<\/p>\n Friends Cathy Cooper, 68, and Cheryl Ryan, 67, travelled in from Blacktown but had to turn back after realising the pool didn\u2019t open until later in the afternoon.<\/p>\n Lynette and Dennis Lockwood came in from nearby Epping to see the pool after hearing about it opening on the news.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks very nice but I\u2019m happy I\u2019m not a ratepayer paying for it,\u201d Mr Lockwood, 86, quipped.<\/p>\n \u201cOur son lives in the area and he\u2019s a ratepayer and I don\u2019t think he\u2019s very happy with the increase in the rates. I don\u2019t think he\u2019ll use it very often. But, if you\u2019re going to use it, great. If you\u2019re a ratepayer that doesn\u2019t use it, you\u2019re not going to be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Lockwood said she remembers using the pool during swimming carnivals at school.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an icon and I think it\u2019s wonderful they\u2019ve kept it but it\u2019s cost an awful lot of money and I appreciate how people feel.\u201d<\/p>\n Amanda Ngai, 35, trekked over an hour away to use the pool. She told news.com.au she was so excited, she came dressed in her bathers.<\/p>\n \u201cEverytime I use the train, I can see the pool. It\u2019s so exciting to see it. Anyway, today, I have a chance to enter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Marie Mungoven, 33, said the pool would be good for tourism and the community and can\u2019t wait to take her parents to visit.<\/p>\n She also said the cost was \u201cunderstandable\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people in the area would attest to that. A lot of people are waiting for it as well. I can say being a local and walking past it all the time, I\u2019m always wondering when the open date would come. It\u2019s here and I think it\u2019s going to be very good,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Cost blow-out and the \u2018S*** sandwich\u2019<\/p>\n Reburbishing the iconic pool hasn\u2019t come without controversy.<\/p>\n The project also became part of a wider debate about whether local councils should take on major infrastructure projects, as ageing pools across Sydney face costly upgrades.<\/p>\n