London Fields Lido is still unlikely to reopen for “several weeks”, the council has admitted.
The popular open-air pool has been shut since April for urgent repairs to its crumbling tiles. It was mooted to reopen in “late summer”, then on September 30, and since then the date has been pushed back twice.
This afternoon, community services boss Cllr Jon Burke acknowledged swimmers would be “losing their patience more than two months after the planned reopening” but laid the blame at the door of the firm carrying out the refurbishment.
Etec has sent extra staff to the site and is working seven days a week to fix the problems, it is understood, while the council is also visiting daily to check progress.
“The contractor has been working through a series of defects,” said Cllr Burke. “There are two main areas of work which need to be addressed before we can safely open the Lido.
“Firstly, problems with the mechanical and electrical works. The ducting and air handling unit installation did not meet the required specification so the contractor has stripped it out and is in the process of fitting a new installation.
“Secondly, general non-compliant items such as drainage, finishes, flooring and tiling which were not finished to an acceptable standard initially and are still being rectified.
“Progress has been made in both areas but our regular inspections indicate that a reopening date is still several weeks away.
“It is understandable that people who use the Lido are losing their patience more than two months after the planned reopening. We are equally frustrated and due to the contractor’s track record of missing deadlines we are not able to confirm an actual opening date at this stage.
“We will continue to review the situation on a daily basis and keep the Lido’s user group up to date. We are pursuing all options to get the Lido open as quickly as possible, including following the required contractual process to deal with the non-compliant work and missed deadlines. At the moment that means continuing to work with the contractor.”
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