Murray Bridge swimming pool will close for school holidays
The city’s swimming centre will close on Easter Monday, April 1, 2024 after councillors rejected calls for it to stay open longer.
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If you’re thinking of taking one last dip in Murray Bridge’s swimming pool, you’d better get in quick.
The swimming centre will close at 6pm on Easter Monday, ending the summer swim season.
Councillors considered keeping it open for the upcoming school holidays after repeated requests from the community.
Ultimately, though, they decided not to extend the swimming season.
A council report, presented at a special meeting last Wednesday night, showed that the net cost of keeping the pool open longer would be almost $24,000 per week.
Given the temperature during the April holidays was likely to be in the low to mid 20s, council staff predicted that the pool would get about 530 visits per week.
That would produce about $5000 in income through admission fees.
But the cost of employing pool staff, keeping pumps going and so on would be about $28,700 per week.
The council’s city assets manager said there had been “considerable demand” from patrons who wanted the pool to stay open.
However, given the costs, she recommended that it be closed on April 1 as scheduled – and councillors agreed.
The swimming centre made a net loss of about $27,000 between the start of the summer season and last week’s meeting.
