The City of Greater Geelong and the Australian Government are creating construction jobs while delivering a new 50-metre outdoor heated pool on The Bellarine.
Deputy Mayor Trent Sullivan said up to 60 construction jobs will be created during the delivery of the stage one $15.5 million outdoor aquatic facility at the Drysdale Sporting Precinct.
The eight-lane outdoor heated pool is funded with $10 million from the Australian Government and $5.5 million from the City of Greater Geelong.|
The project will see:
- 17,000 cubic metres of soil moved and retained to build the facility
- 2,200 cubic metres of soil excavated for the pool
- More than 7000 square metres of new pavements
- 32 tonnes of structural steel to construct the buildings
- 22 large fixed and removable umbrellas to provide shade
- 3,369 trees and shrubs to be planted across the site
- 10,000 square metres of lawn grass to be installed.
The Aquatic Facility is one of Council's priority projects and will be suitable for family use, learn to swim classes, water exercise classes, and Local and School and Carnivals.
Kane Constructions was awarded the construction tender in December last year and has many staff, subcontractors and suppliers residing within the Bellarine Peninsula.
In total, around 500 people are employed across the City's leisure centres, including swimming teachers, lifeguards, and customer service staff.
The City is working to secure $45 million in joint funding from the Victorian and Australian governments to deliver the stage two indoor aquatic and leisure centre.
Deputy Mayor Trent Sullivan
We're proud to have tradies on site building better facilities for our community. We understand the importance of construction to our local economy and we're creating jobs for skilled labourers, sparkies, industrial plumbers, engineers and many others. Kane Constructions will use local subcontractors and source a large proportion of goods and services through local businesses.
Councillor Jim Mason
It's taken a lot of hard work and persistence to get to this point, so the start of construction is a significant milestone for The Bellarine community. Council is always looking at ways to be more sustainable so the outdoor pool will utilise electricity - not gas - including a 16kw solar system that features 38 solar panels. The tradespeople who install the solar panels will help to reduce emissions and drive down our energy costs.
