A DATE has been set for locals to take a refreshing dive into the Tamworth town pool, now that water is bucketing in and remediation works have gone swimmingly.
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Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) sport and recreation manager Paul Kelly said it's almost time for locals to whip out the sunscreen and the swimmers, with a plan in place to open the Tamworth Olympic Pool by December 14.
A press pack was invited into the historic Tamworth facility on Thursday to watch water pumping into the pool and lapping at the edges as it filled, with several hoses and a bulk filling point turned on full bore.
"We had to jump in and do some immediate repairs which delayed things a little bit but those works have gone perfectly well and we're back on track," Mr Kelly said.
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"There's water going into the pool and we are really excited to open up this great facility."
The level at the Olympic-sized pool has been inching higher for the past couple of days, and with 1.3 million litres needed, it is expected to be topped up by the weekend.
Then, the process of making sure the water is balanced and safe for swimmers takes place during the following few days.
The opening hours for the Tamworth Olympic Pool are expected to be aligned with the Scully Park centre, which is from 5:30am to 6pm daily.
Mr Kelly said there are still some COVID restrictions in place, but he isn't expecting them to cause too much heat when the city pool turnstiles are back in use.
"There are COVID restrictions, we have a maximum number of people we can have in the water at any one time but we've had that at Scully and we've been able to manage that," he said.
"We've got plenty of space to fit people within the facility but it's the water numbers that have been our issue but they are relaxing each week so hopefully in time for summer we can have more people in the pool."
Scully Park pool has seen 9,000 people make use of the refreshing water during this season so far - 2,000 of which were during the five-day heatwave.
"As soon as we get this pool open we'll be able to alleviate the load over there," Mr Kelly said.
The pool is being filled with town water and has been closed for 18 months due to the drought.
But, with Tamworth now on Level 3 water restrictions, Mr Kelly said the team at council has been working hard to get the final works done and the pool back in action.
Routine maintenance has been taking place at the Kable Avenue facility during the closure, but an unexpected safety risk posed by crumbling pool edges had to be urgently taken care of after it was discovered in September.
