Newly uncovered emails reveal issues which led to the long-term closure of Dundee’s Olympia centre were raised years ago but never acted on.
Exchanges between senior staff at Dundee City Council and Leisure and Culture Dundee (L&CD) shine a light, for the first time, on the sheer volume of problems at the plagued facility.
They include rust falling from the flume platform onto the poolside below, corroded bolts and water leaking onto electrical switchgear.
One alarming fixture failure saw a large bolt helping to hold a window in place become so “severely corroded” that it snapped.
Lack of repairs at Olympia detailed
Emails released through Freedom of Information (FOI) laws show concerns around the pools were long known and L&CD’s health and safety committee chair Will Dawson — who is also a city councillor — had tried to get them fixed.
However the pools remained open and no major maintenance or repair work requiring its closure has been carried out since 2014 — just a year after it opened.
Moira Methven, who is chairperson of L&CD, outlined how serious the situation was becoming in an email to the council’s chief executive Greg Colgan on October 17, 2021.
At this time, the pools had been shut for just four days with the council blaming a “technical issue”.
She said: “Will [Dawson] in his capacity of chair of L&CD’s health and safety committee has been raising some of the issues for a number of years now and it had been hoped that works would have been undertaken during lockdown.
“However for a number of reasons this did not happen.”
In the same email, she goes on say: “The staff have been vigilant in maintaining the plants rooms and public areas as best they can.
“However, it has reached the stage where make do and mend is no longer an option.
“I know you will agree that safety has to be paramount when delivering swimming provision.
“Vigilance is not an aspiration but an absolute necessity.”
‘The time for bluff and bluster is over’
While these discussions took place, Dundonians were still waiting to hear when the pools would reopen, with bosses revealing nothing of the scale of the problem until late November.
The only information given publicly prior to this was that there was “ongoing unexpected lighting issues”.
It had been hoped that the pool would reopen after initial work to repair the loose light fittings but after more issues were found, it was recommended it stay closed for a full building assessment.
Councillor Richard McCready says the revelation that issues were flagged up years ago shows council bosses have clearly been reluctant to close the facility to allow the repairs to take place.
He said it’s “unacceptable” the public don’t know what is going on and “the time for bluff and bluster is over”.
Mr McCready, who also previously complained about delays to the opening of Olympia in 2013, said: “The council need to be open and transparent and give a full account of the issues that were raised and explain why they have not been dealt with effectively before we got to this crisis.
“I hope that the council was not trying to save money in the short term which has led to a multi-million-pound bill for the people of Dundee.”
‘Large maintenance exercise’ to come in 2022
The council, which is responsible for maintaining the building, was asked why Mr Dawson’s concerns over the years were not acted upon.
The council did not address the question specifically but claimed a closure in 2022 had been in the pipeline for some time.
A spokesperson said: “In order to avoid a series of closures to address each of the maintenance issues identified as they arose, the council had been planning a single closure to allow a larger maintenance exercise to be undertaken in 2022.
“Councillors approved the report which means that works, anticipated to cost in the region of £3.5m – £4.5m will be the subject of a further tender report which will be brought back to committee in due course.”
