First look: After four years, Payneham Pool set to slide into Summer
A $63 million redevelopment of a popular eastern suburbs swimming centre is almost finished, InDaily dives into the new-look pools that have cost ratepayers significantly more than first slated. See the video.
The Payneham Memorial Swimming Centre is set to open in Spring following a $63 million upgrade and InDaily can reveal the first look at its brand new pools.
The centre now features a stylish new 50-metre Olympic-sized outdoor pool, a 25-metre indoor pool, two 14metres-tall waterslides and a fancy new children’s indoor waterplay area – built by Badge set to be handed over to the local council in mid-August 2026.
Norwood Payneham and St Peters Mayor Robert Bria said staff now have six weeks to prepare the new centre for an onslaught of local swimmers.
The pool was originally meant to cost $20 million, but in 2024 InDaily revealed that cost had tripled to $60 million. The latest council projections for the redevelopment added $3 million in extra construction costs.
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Plans were largely the same as the council announced in 2021, except for a newly added waterplay area featuring play equipment and a ‘dump bucket’. At the time, Bria said the extra costs were attributed to “economic landscape, most notably interest rates, inflation and skill shortages and supply chain issues”, which “had serious knock-on effects to the nation’s construction industry”.
A planned $6 million gym for the swimming centre was scrapped by the council earlier this month following an Essential Services Commission of SA report in February that found the council was generating $106.7 million in debt.
The pool spend was weighing heavily on the council’s coffers, with a projected deficit of $577,000 for the 2026-27 financial year.
The Payneham Pool has been closed for four years for renovations.
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Today, Bria said the new swimming centre represented “one of the council’s most significant investments in community recreation and well-being”.
“We have reimagined this facility to ensure it remains a contemporary and leading destination for our diverse community for decades to come.
“I am proud of the legacy that both the current and previous councils will leave through this facility; one that will serve our community for generations to come.”
Bria also announced that an external company – BlueFit – was appointed to oversee day-to-day operations at the swimming centre.
The Victorian company was commissioned with developing a program of experiences with a focus on swim safety and learn-to-swim programs.
“BlueFit comes to the City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters with extensive experience and a distant community focus, which the council is confident will underpin the success of the centre,” Bria said.
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