Some like it hot – if it saves money

From the Daily Telegraph in London

Dave Richards

Good luck to the new manager of the $20 million Alice Springs Aquatic Centre, whoever it turns out to be. On current indications from the Alice Town Council, he or she may need it – or otherwise the wisdom of Solomon.

The Council is offering more than $90,000 for the job.  The new manager will be directly answerable to Council, which will have the final say at both the front end – people – and back end – plant and equipment – of the Centre. On the front end until June 30, South Australian leisure company Casa is being sent packing by Council after one year, having increased attendance rates by 20 per cent. Not necessarily unreasonable when you consider that Casa got $500,000 a year to run the pool in 2012/13, as well as the gate takings – except that there was more to it. As Casa’s Phil Gray revealed in a post last week, the company had offered to manage the centre for $160,000 a year less than under its one year contract, as well as entering a profit-sharing arrangement. Obviously Council has its reasons for turning down such an offer; it’s just not saying what they are.

While they wait to hear Council’s plan, pool users can be forgiven for questioning its ability to run the pool without an independent professional perspective. Its apparent disregard for the sensitivities of staff and pool users is a worry. Yesterday the temperature inside the Centre was 34 deg Celsius, the day before it was 36. This is about two weeks after ABC Alice Springs breakfast presenter Stewart Brash first raised the temperature issue with Mayor Damien Ryan, who has since been reported as saying he didn’t notice how warm it was when he last visited the pool.

For Damien’s sake, a global reality check is timely. Note this story from London’s Daily Telegraph last year:

London 2012 Olympics: Sweltering temperatures in aquatic centre for test event satisfy FINA regulations

Spectators at the British Swimming trials this week can thank their tax payer pounds for the cosy, if at times, sweltering temperatures inside the Olympic aquatic centre.

What constitutes a swelter? read on:

Engineers have had to install additional heating vents under all of the stairs of the temporary seatings and curtain off all of the seating above the first tier of temporary seats for this week’s trials so that the ambient temperature inside the centre remains one to two degrees above the water temperature of 25-28 degrees to satisfy the requirements of the international swimming body, FINA.

Spectators who arrive in coats quickly shed layers down to t-shirts, while the more experienced parents of swimmers wear flipflops and shorts.

 

OK, so they’re Poms, mostly. What about Aussies? What do we consider “comfortable”? I checked with two aquatic centres in New South Wales – the new centre at Nepean and the Ian Thorpe Centre in Sydney, both of which strive to keep their indoor ambient temperature at 26-27 C.

I know Central Australians are tough, but eight degrees tougher? I wonder if anyone on the Council has actually checked what is considered to be a reasonable ambient temperature for aquatic centres.

But, hang on, isn’t temperature control Casa’s responsibility? (more…)