December 2023 is the latest target date for all work to be completed on Helensburgh’s controversial new leisure centre and swimming pool.
The £19.5m project has been beset by delays and disagreements over its design and position on the seafront.
Originally the swimming pool was due to be complete in April this year, but the latest report by Argyll and Bute Council says construction is not due to finish December 2022.
Following that another full year is scheduled as a ‘defects rectification period’.
Staff are due to start work in the new building in July and August 2022, before the current swimming pool is demolished and car park and landscaping completed.
The new schedule appears in a report to a special meeting of the council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee, scheduled for next Wednesday.
It states that three contractors have tendered for the project, with all of them saying that working under some form of Covid-19 restrictions is likely to affect productivity.
A decision over who the contract will be awarded to will be made in a confidential section of the meeting, on the basis of the ‘most economically advantageous tender’.
The report by executive director with responsibility for commercial services Douglas Hendry states: “The delivery of the Helensburgh Waterfront Development project will result in significant and positive employment and gross value added implications for Helensburgh and Lomond, Argyll and Bute, and wider Scotland.
“The issuing of this contract will be one of the most significant milestones in this strategic change process and the culmination of years of planning, engagement, consultation and due diligence.
“As we emerge from COVID-19 and its global impact, contracts and projects such as this will play an essential part in helping our regional and national economies to recover.
“It will provide employment opportunities during the construction period, and positive impacts for the local economy in catering to the direct and indirect needs of a major construction site.”
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