Sink Or Swim For Baths
Newcastle Herald
Thursday February 7, 2008
THE private sector may be called on to bail Newcastle City Council out of trouble with the restoration of Newcastle Ocean Baths.
Council staff told councillors at a briefing on Tuesday night that there is no plan for completing the project, which has run over time and over budget.However they suggested that the council could include outstanding works such as painting, refurbishment or stabilisation work as requirements in expressions of interest from private operators for commercial use of the building's northern pavilion.City projects manager Chris McCallum said the cost of the project had increased by more than $1 million from an original estimate of about $3.2 million.The existing contractor is due to complete its part of the project and quit the site by March, leaving previously unforeseen problems.Mr McCallum said fixing building deterioration that was not apparent when the project started would cost about $635,000. Correcting previously unidentified structural and stability problems would cost an additional $650,000.Even with the extra expenditure, several components of the project would not be completed.These include refurbishing swimming club rooms at the northern and southern ends of the building, and putting a partial roof over and painting inside the northern change rooms.Fences will remain around parts of the building. Mr McCallum said when and how fencing would be removed and other work completed was subject to funding becoming available."What we need to do is some additional design work . . . to provide estimates. Then council can make some decisions about . . . whether council will look to the private sector to fund it," Mr McCallum said.Today's Online Poll theherald.com.au
© 2008 Newcastle Herald