About the redevelopment process

History

The Carnegie Memorial Swimming Pool, formally the Caufield Memorial Pool, was built in 1966. It is a much-loved part of Glen Eira and many generations of the community grew up at the pool.

In November 2020, just after the pool opened for the summer season, we identified a significant leak. Unfortunately, after 54 years of summer fun, the pool reached the end of its practical life. It is now uneconomical to repair it.

Proposed redevelopment

The redevelopment of Carnegie Memorial Swimming Pool has been part of Council’s forward planning for some time. The plans were brough forward when we discovered a significant leak at the start of the 2020–2021 summer season. Professional investigations revealed it wasn’t possible to repair the leak, so we had to keep the pool closed.

The Carnegie Memorial Swimming Pool redevelopment is an important project for our community. It will create new opportunities for local residents, and the wider community, to make new friends, learn new skills and maintain healthy lifestyles. The redevelopment will stimulate job opportunities in the local area, assisting with post-COVID economic recovery.

The redevelopment will broaden the facilities at Carnegie Memorial Swimming Pool. This will help us cater for the all year-round demand for aquatic and leisure facilities by providing:

• More opportunities to improve physical and mental wellbeing, specifically through learn-to-swim and other programs
• Improved user experience of the facilities
• Enhanced community feel and connectedness while still enjoying the essential elements which contribute to the current swim centre’s character
• A more sustainable facility with improved accessibility.

Community consultation

We consulted the Glen Eira community in 2015, 2018 and again in late 2019 and early 2020. We wanted to understand what is important to you for the redevelopment of Carnegie Memorial Swimming Pool.

We created a Community Reference Group in December 2019 to help guide the design development process for the Carnegie Memorial Swimming Pool redevelopment. The group also advised on the implementation of the Lord Reserve and Koornang Park Masterplan.  

The feedback we collected through this extensive engagement process helped inform the designs.

From October 2019 to January 2020, we asked the community to vote on the proposed designs for the centre. A total of 1,364 community members took part in this consultation. The majority (73.5%) voted for Option B, a "redeveloped swim centre with indoor and outdoor pools and an outdoor diving pool". At the Ordinary Council Meeting on the 25 February 2020, Council endorsed Option B as the concept design.

We consulted with the community again from 1 July to 12 August 2020. During this time, we asked for your feedback on the concept design for the proposed redevelopment of Carnegie Memorial Swimming Pool. The concept design included indoor and outdoor pools, an outdoor dive pool and increased wet and dry wellness facilities.

We received a strong, positive response to the concept design. Most comments were minor and we considered and incorporated them into the design concept, where possible.