THE children’s pool at Carnegie Leisure Centre in Dunfermline will be shut over the summer. 

It’s already been closed due to a problem with the tiles since February but work has yet to start and will take up to three MONTHS. 

Service manager with Fife Council, Raymond Johnston, said: “Repairs to the junior pool at Carnegie Leisure Centre will commence later in the month and will take around 12 weeks to complete.

“A planned closure was previously agreed to allow for essential repairs to the channel and surrounding tile work of the junior pool. “However, this planned work has now been extended following the discovery of displaced tiles in the bottom of the pool.

“The works are currently being tendered to appoint a specialist tiling contractor.”

The pool was closed and emptied as a precaution in February after a routine inspection detected some tile “movement” in the basin. 

At that time, the council said they were “investigating why some tiles have lifted in the junior pool and the extent of the repair works that will be required”.

The pool, which has a number of displaced tiles on the floor, had been fenced off but little or no progress appears to have been made since February. 

The centre is run by the Fife Sports and Leisure Trust, on behalf of Fife Council.

A message on the website states: “Children’s Pool currently closed until further notice awaiting maintenance works.”

The leisure centre, in Pilmuir Street, reopened a year late and £10 million over budget in January 2012 after a £21m refurbishment. 

Since it reopened, there have been snagging issues with temporary fixes applied and disputes over liability with the contractor, Barr Construction.
Among the problems were mechanical and electrical defects, problems with air quality and the training pool roof and leaks from the junior pool. 

In a report last September, the council said there were still a number of issues with Barr Construction with the cause of the condensation affecting the training pool roof uncovering “areas of defective workmanship”. 

This had been accepted and a financial settlement agreed but there was no agreement as regards leaks from the junior pool, with the council admitting “the liability to make good these defects has not yet been accepted by the contractor”.