Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

New blow for Dundee’s Olympia swimming pools as rust confirmed

The corrosion has just been discovered.

Rust affects diving boards at Olympia
The centre re-opened after two years in December. Image: LACD

Rust has been detected at Dundee’s Olympia swimming pools.

Local authority bosses claim the corrosion at the foot of the diving pool stairs, which has only just been discovered, is minor.

However, they add that repair work could be disruptive.

For that reason the work will be carried out during future annual maintenance.

Rust reported at diving pool stairs

The latest headache for Olympia bosses comes less than two weeks after it was revealed that a metal rod had fallen from the red flume at the leisure pool, almost hitting a swimmer below.

The details emerged after days of silence from operator Leisure and Culture Dundee, which blamed a “technical issue” for the recent and unexpected closure of both the leisure and toddler pools.

Rust confirmed at Olympia
The steel rod fell from the red chute. Image: LACD

Two months ago the crisis-hit centre reopened following a two-year closure and £6 million worth of repairs, which included addressing corrosion on the flumes.

Then, on February 14, The Courier revealed that Olympia officials had ‘urgent’ concerns about the state of the Dundee centre just weeks after the repairs.

The latest concerns regarding rust were passed to Dundee Liberal Democrat group leader Fraser Macpherson.

Mr Macpherson said: “I was contacted by a constituent who said they were really concerned to notice that rust has already started re-appearing at the foot of the stairs going up to the diving boards, and the bottom of the pillars that hold the diving boards.”

The councillor then contacted Dundee City Council who confirmed there was a rust issue.

Olympia repairs could be ‘disruptive’

In a response to Mr Macpherson, Neil Martin, from the city development department, said: “Now that officers have had the opportunity to inspect, there are indeed signs of localised minor corrosion at the base of the dive pool stair.

“This particular instance can be attributed to very localised corrosion, concealed just below the level of the floor tiling and would not have been visible in carrying out the recent refurbishment.

Rust confirmed at Olympia
Rust has been confirmed at Olympia. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

“This is cosmetic and non-structural in nature and whilst a repair would be extremely localised, it could be disrupting in nature.

“Tiles would need to be lifted locally, and an element of floor screen broken out to ensure that all corrosion below the level of the current floor finishes is dealt with and treated, prior to reinstatement.”

Mr Martin added: “A regime is required for the management of rust to protect the building as well as the importance of appearance for the customers.

“The strategy will be to pick these up at future planned closures when noise and dust disruption can be managed and avoid disrupting the running of the facility.”

Still no opening date following latest Dundee pool closure

Mr Macpherson said he has since had confirmation that the rust repairs will be carried out during future proposed annual maintenance.

He said: “I have sought and been given a reassurance that the pools won’t be closed further in the meantime to allow the rust repairs to be carried out.

“I have been told that in future the pool will be closed for annual maintenance and the work will be carried out then.”

Mr Macpherson said he has also asked how long the pools are to remain closed following the latest incident earlier this month.

He added: “I am waiting for a response.”

Conversation