An alternative for the ageing Civic pool, opened in 1956 to coincide with the Melbourne Olympics, has remained unclear for quite some time.
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The prime city site had been proposed for a new stadium but that debate has moved on, with Bruce identified as the next sports, health and education precinct.
Setting sentiment aside, the reality is the current pool has to go because the significant repairs needed to sustain it are just not worth the expense.
And so the Civic pool site is now part of the push for a large indoor entertainment pavilion, with a 50-50 funding agreement sought between the ACT and federal governments.
The government's entertainment, arts and sports infrastructure plan update estimates the total cost of an indoor entertainment pavilion to be between $100 million and $250 million.
However, the need for a new aquatic facility of some type within the city area, potentially within Commonwealth Park, remains.
The question now is what that facility might look like, how to future-proof it and ensure it caters for a broad range of recreational needs.
The enormous popularity of new-generation wave pools, with Sydney's Olympic Park the latest to open, offers the opportunity to eschew convention and explore the possibility of a multi-purpose facility.
Such a proposal would be a popular one with our region's land-locked surfers and Urbnsurf, which developed the Melbourne and Sydney wave pools and has plans for another in Perth well underway, has already flagged that other cities and regional areas are on its radar.
One big issue with a wave pool based on the Melbourne and Sydney models, is the footprint needed. The Sydney facility is a huge 3.6 hectares in size.
Canberra doesn't have that space to spare. But it's not an insurmountable issue. Other designs operate within tighter space restrictions.
The ACT government aims to be progressive in its thinking.
Two hours from the nearest beach and filled with thousands of people who embrace active outdoor lifestyles, it's time for some clever thinking that could make Canberra's next city aquatic facility the envy of the country.
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