• - Auckland’s Waitematā Local Board faces decisions about the Olympic Pools and Fitness Centre’s future
• - The facility is earthquake-prone and may require $5.3 million for structural improvements and a potential temporary closure to allow for repairs
• - Community members worry closure will harm local connections and wellbeing services offered by the centre

Members of Auckland’s Waitematā Local Board will be forced to weigh the needs of their community with the looming threat of seismic issues as the contentious debate over the future of the Olympic Pools and Fitness Centre in Newmarket comes to an end.

The Olympic Pool’s lease ends in November, but the conversation over renewal was paused until an Auckland Council decision on pool contracts was completed. A report on the building was completed and presented to the local board in early September.

The report concluded the building was earthquake-prone and in need of significant structural improvements - for which it may have to close the facility to undertake.

It offered four options to the board. One of them was a recommendation to extend the lease until November 2026 alongside conducting detailed designs, with a temporary closure the following year for construction.

An earlier condition assessment estimated the improvements would cost $5.3 million, but the report admitted the cost of capital works could decrease by 20% or balloon by 70% after designs are completed.

Last week, the board delayed the decision over the future of the facility until today where the item will be voted on in confidentiality at a meeting before being released to the public.

However, not everyone is happy with the contents of the report.

The pool’s director, Peter Rust, backed by over 30 supporters, rejected many of the claims in the report at the board’s last meeting.

He claimed the pool could be left open - and the company could pay for the construction in exchange for a 30-year lease extension.

“We have presented an outline of how to screen off the necessary work area for the seismic upgrading. We can undertake that and complete it within two years.”

An Auckland Council report recommends a year-long temporary closure of the Olympic Pools and Fitness centre starting November 2026 . Photo / Google

Ross Walker, a self-proclaimed “ordinary guy” and regular user of the pool, said the Olympic Pool and Fitness Centre represented more than just a place to “get fit”.

He called it a “community of communities”, made up of seniors attending yoga classes, young kids at swim classes, and the “old Chinese spa social club” who packed the spa every morning.

“Closing this facility will destroy those communities. This facility provides important physical and mental wellbeing services for a variety of communities of Auckland.”

Walker said a closure, even temporarily - would spell a permanent end for the pools.

“With five other gyms in the area, you’re going to struggle to get that up and running again,” he said. “There are so many choices - and people don’t change gyms readily.”

The public was barred from being in the boardroom while further details of the report were discussed because of confidential material.

It is understood critical information, which could ultimately influence members’ decisions, is included in this material.

Member Sarah Trotman appeared to include some of this in her line of questions.

“The lease agreement in 2005 required the leasee to spend $1.5 million on reviewing plant and equipment,” she said. “The staff are implying that didn’t happen.”

Board chair Genevieve Sage jumped in before Trotman could continue.

“I think it’s the confidential report that you’re talking about,” Sage said. “So perhaps that’s something that we could discuss in confidentiality as well.”

The public may not know the final outcome of the meeting until 5pm Tuesday.

• - Changes have been made to this story for clarity

Jordan Dunn is a multimedia reporter based in Auckland with a focus on crime, social issues, policing and local issues. He joined Newstalk ZB in 2024 from Radio New Zealand, where he started as an intern out of the New Zealand Broadcasting School.