YEARS of hard work will finally pay off with the Ararat Olympic Outdoor Pool set to officially open on Wednesday morning.
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The Save the Ararat Outdoor Pool committee and Ararat Rural City Council will welcome residents and special guests poolside at 11.30am for the opening.
The opening will celebrate the completion of the new kiosk and changerooms that join the precinct with Alexandra Gardens.
Mayor Paul Hooper said there was still plenty of work to be done, but community members would have their first chance for a swim on Wednesday.
“We certainly have had an enormous amount of effort from the pool committee, particularly Ambrose and Sandy Cashin, but the process isn’t finished yet,” he said. “There is still some landscaping to do and there are other things the pool committee desires so we always knew the project wouldn’t be completed overnight.”
The opening follows four years of community and in-kind work to restore the pool to the required workplace and health safety standards.
The long running saga started when Ararat Rural City Council made the decision to demolish the site due to the poor condition of the pool.
In response the Ararat community rallied to refurbish and update the pool at a cost of $1.2 million.
That was $3 million less than the project was initially slated to cost council.
Save the Ararat Pool committee member Ambrose Cashin said the opening would be a good reward after four years of hard work.
“It something Ararat can and should be proud of because it was built originally in the 1950s through volunteer labour,” he said.
“Since then is fell into dilapidation, but the community rallied again and they have worked together to ensure it reopened.
“The Ararat Rural City Council was looking at the cost and concerns about rate rises to the community.”
Mr Cashin said council has been trying to make a financially responsible decision when it chose to demolish the pool.
“But with the community continually rallying and showing the need for the pool, and the state government coming to the party, the final financial hole was covered,” he said.
To celebrate the new pool, long time swimmer Monica Kapp will cut the ribbon. The 86-year-old is one of the pool’s oldest regular users.
