Pool turns 50 as Wonthaggi and Phillip Island await investment

The Bass Coast Aquatic and Leisure Centre celebrated 50 years of operation on Wednesday, October 7.

In many ways, it was just like any other birthday, with cake and community members gathering for the festivities.

The centre hosted a free open day for the celebration, with coffee and come-and-try pickleball among the activities organised by Aligned Leisure.

Beyond the birthday celebrations, things like swimming lessons and exercise classes continued to show how much the facility remains a part of many residents’ lives.

Federal Member for Monash Mary Aldred, Bass Coast Mayor Brett Tessari and Cr Rochelle Halstead also picked up paddles to give pickleball a try, putting their athletic skills to the test.

And the centre still means so much to its users.

Bass Coast Leisure Manager Mel said aqua fitness classes on that very morning had attracted at least 40 participants.

“It’s not just about fitness, it’s about social connection,” she said.

Mel said those connections are often what keeps people engaged with the facility.

“They come potentially for fitness but stay for the friendship and the social connection.”

For one patron, Vicki Baigent, the pickleball sessions offered by the centre provided a great way to meet people after she moved from Upper Ferntree Gully about a year and a half ago.

She said she’d seen the sport in Melbourne and searched online for somewhere to play locally.

“It was so inclusive, everyone was so friendly, and the staff are always friendly, so I just love it,” she said.

Ms Baigent also uses the gym, while her husband sometimes visits to practise basketball.

The 50th celebration also came with a push to secure the facility’s future.

Mayor Tessari acknowledged that the centre is reaching the end of its life, with the ageing building no longer meeting expectations of a modern aquatic and leisure facility.

He hoped a $15 million federal grant, alongside election commitments, would help deliver the redevelopment.

Mayor Tessari thanked Ms Aldred for supporting the campaign and said he hoped the anniversary might be the pool’s last or second-last birthday.

Ms Aldred said she and Cr Tessari shared an ambition to deliver swimming pools for both Phillip Island and Wonthaggi.

“My dream is to have Phillip Island and Wonthaggi having access to swimming pools,” she said.

“Before we’re done!” Cr Tessari added.

“We’ll keep fighting for that,” Ms Aldred said.

But space is already providing a challenge.

Mel described fitting recreation and swimming lessons around club training and other programs in the six-lane pool as a “Tetris” puzzle.

“The biggest thing we feel is like we are gridlocked,” she said.

Redevelopment would provide room to expand existing programs and introduce activities such as aquatic playgroups.

Cr Tessari said the original pool shell and deck were poured almost exactly 50 years earlier, in 1976.

The history of the pool continues through its staff, as Mel said one staff member had learned how to swim at the centre as a child, moved to Melbourne, and then later returned to work at the facility.