Dundee swimmers will be left without any major public swimming pools for a minimum of a fortnight next month, after Olympia finally closes its doors for the last time.
The soon-to-be-demolished Olympia is scheduled to close on June 9, with its replacement at East Marketgait running six months behind schedule and not being available until later in the month.
Now, with Lochee swimming pool being closed for repairs over the coming weeks, swimmers will have only private pools to exercise or train in.
Strathmartine councillor Kevin Keenan, the leader of the Labour group on the city council, has warned of the situation and has written to chief executive David Dorward and Stewart Murdoch, chairman of Leisure and Culture Dundee, with a possible solution to the problem.
He says the new pool at St Paul’s RC Academy in Gilburn Road should be further promoted as a public swimming venue.
In his email to the council he says: “It has been brought to my attention that with the Lochee Swimming Pool being closed for repairs and the old Olympia scheduled to close on June 9 and the new pool not being available until approximately June 24, that there is a potential for the city not to have any of its major swimming assets available to the public.
“As you are aware, I continue to believe that the council have never done enough to promote public swimming at St Paul’s pool and I therefore wonder if this would not be the perfect opportunity to start promoting the use of St Paul’s as a public swimming venue, with the likelihood that both Lochee and the Olympia new and/or old will be unavailable for a period of time.”
Stewart Murdoch said: “We think it’s a very good suggestion and we will look towards putting a small advertisement in the press and other ways to ensure that the opportunity to continue to swim in Dundee during this period is promoted.”