George Town's $17.5m indoor aquatic centre finished

Construction on George Town’s new $17.5m indoor aquatic centre finished this week, with federal, state and council figures confirming on 22 October that the facility is built and heading toward opening in the coming weeks. Builder Fairbrother and architect Philp Lighton Architects delivered the project for George Town Council on a site that replaces the town’s open-air pool with a year-round indoor venue.

Why it matters

George Town, on Tasmania’s north coast near Bell Bay, has relied on an outdoor pool for more than 40 years. An indoor centre gives the town a year-round facility as investment interest builds around the nearby Bell Bay industrial precinct. Tasmanian Sport Minister Nick Duigan described the new facility as a significant upgrade on the outdoor pool it replaces. He called the build a major undertaking over several years, and said the state’s $2.5 million was there to see it through to completion. For builders tendering on regional civic work, that multi-year timeline and a funding split weighted heavily to Canberra are the pattern to expect.

Federal infrastructure minister Catherine King said the government is backing projects like it to help people live healthier lives. Federal Bass MP Jess Teesdale said the centre’s warm-water program pool would be particularly valuable for older residents and people with mobility challenges. For the construction sector, the completion is a working reference for Fairbrother, a Tasmanian-based builder, on a civic aquatic build it can point to for future council tenders.

The numbers

The centre cost $17.5m in total, funded by $15 million from the federal government and $2.5 million from the Tasmanian government, with George Town Council as the delivery partner. No original budget figure was released for comparison, and Pulse Tasmania’s report did not state whether the final cost moved against an earlier estimate. The facility includes a heated indoor 25 metre pool, a separate warm-water program pool, a gym and fitness room, allied health suites and a cafe. No floor area in square metres was given. Programs will cover recreational and lap swimming, learn-to-swim classes, warm-water therapy, fitness activities and allied health services. Fairbrother built the centre and Philp Lighton Architects designed it; no additional subcontractors were named in the report.

The project is the latest Tasmanian civic build to confirm its builder publicly this month, following Hobart’s $1.13b Macquarie Point stadium naming BESIX Watpac as preferred contractor on 16 October, though the two projects differ by two orders of magnitude in scale and funding structure. Where the stadium is still negotiating a fixed-price head contract, Fairbrother has already finished its scope at George Town, with commissioning the remaining step before the centre opens.

What’s next

George Town Mayor Greg Kieser called the end of construction an exciting milestone for the municipality. The centre is due to open in the coming weeks, but no opening date has been set. Duigan said the outdoor pool it replaces had served the community for more than 40 years. With allied health suites, a gym and a cafe on site, the new centre is built to run all year as a community facility rather than as a seasonal pool.