WORTHING must regard the potentially-fatal incident at the Aquarena as a wake-up call to end years of shilly-shallying over replacing this crumbling building.
What greater incentive to action is needed than a heavy metal air-conditioning grille plunging from the ceiling into the main pool, narrowly missing a woman swimmer? Enough is enough!
The council has been promising Worthing a replacement for the 1968-built Aquarena for nearly 10 years.
Yet it is still moving with tortoise-like speed in deciding the site, and upsetting a lot of people in the process.
Faffing aroundA former council officer has criticised the council for "faffing around" on the issue during the past six years.
Meanwhile, the Aquarena is closed – yet again – until it can be reopened without danger to the public.
The high cost of maintaining the Aquarena is now made worse by the facility losing £850-net a day while the main pool is closed.
And it's even more galling to think that, after all this time, the new town pool should be up and splashing by now.
Millennium planIt was, after all, back in Millennium Year 2000 that the Tory-run council backed a £9million scheme to redevelop the pool.
But in conjunction with this sensible decision in principle, the wish was expressed for a partnership link with private investors to help fund the pool.
This led to the unsuccessful attempt to incorporate the pool in the Teville Gate redevelopment scheme – another project yet to see a brick laid, despite years of fruitless hope and negotiations.
Yet, the ultimate answer had been put forward in 2000 by consultants employed by the council.
It was for the new Aquarena to be built next to the existing building so that swimming facilities were not affected during the 20 months it would take to build the new pool.
Unpopular decisionBut the council persisted with Teville Gate until it belatedly decided it could not afford the lease-back terms offered by developers Hanson Capital Management.
Then it was back to square one with councillors plumping for... a site next to or near the existing Aquarena, an issue which is still not settled.
One of the options is to site the pool on the site of Denton Gardens, which would be one of the most unpopular planning decisions ever taken in Worthing.
God forbid that we have to relive the Aquarena's turbulent history over again.
Traumatic episodeMost adults will remember the traumatic episode, in 1977, when serious faults were discovered in the concrete roof and support beams.
Eyewitnesses have described rubbish, instead of concrete, having originally been deposited in gaps which should have been filled with concrete.
It led to the building's structure having to be virtually rebuilt, at a total cost of £3million, and the pool was closed for five years.
There was an enormous impact on the town's swimming community, with one result being that parents had to bus or car-ferry their children to other pools in the county while the work was carried out.
Beset with problemsEven after a much-heralded relaunch of the Aquarena in 1982, the building was beset with problems which have often led to temporary closures.
These have included an incident in the late 1980s when men's changing room cubicles had to be replaced after glass panels failed and "sharp fragments" caused "significant injuries" to the users.
Now, the council will be under even more pressure to announce that a start will be made on a new pool next to the present Aquarena – and as soon as possible.
The way things are going, it will save money in the end.
Aquarena quick history1968Aquarena built
1977Closed for five years
1980sSwimmers hurt
2000£9m dream unveiled
2008Closed again
Read Avril Robert's horrific story of falling debris at the Aquarena in the Thursday, August 28 edition of the Worthing Herald.
Have your say Do you think Worthing Borough Council has taken too long to give the town a new swimming pool?
The results were: 91 per cent voting yes, and nine per cent voting no.
What do you think?How frustrated are you by Worthing's swimming pool fiasco?
How often do you go swimming at the Aquarena?
Where are you going now?
What do you think about the pool?
Share your views, comment in the space below, email the Herald or write in to Readers' Letters, Worthing Herald, Cannon House, Chatsworth Road, Worthing, BN11 1NA.
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