Olympia Leisure Centre
56°27′27.4″N 2°58′0.72″W / 56.457611°N 2.9668667°W / 56.457611; -2.9668667
Opened15 July 1974 (1974-07-15)
Closed2013
Operated byDundee City Council, later Dundee Leisure
Former name(s)Dundee Leisure Centre

The Olympia Leisure Centre was a swimming pool in Dundee.

History

The facility was built on an infilled dock.[1]

The facility opened on 15 July 1974.[2] The facility reopened on 28 August 1991 as the Olympia.[3][4][5] Operation of the pool transferred from Dundee City Council to Dundee Leisure, a charitable trust, in 2006.[6]

The facility closed in 2013, having been replaced with the new Olympia Leisure Centre, and was subsequently demolished.[7] The V&A Dundee was built where the pool stood previously. In 2021, a mural was created by Cobalt Collective outside the V&A depicting the pool.[8]

Facilities

Rear of the pool shortly after closure, with the water slides added in 1991

Following the 1991 refurbishment, the Centre had four pools. The main pool area had a "beach" entrance where it gradually approached zero depth and also included wave machines, a rapid river, whirlpool, and a hot tub. There was also a diving pool, children's pool, and a 25-metre training pool.[4]

Incidents

On 29 September 2007 shortly before closing time, a seven-year-old boy who could not swim drowned in the wave pool after becoming separated from the two older children he was playing with.[9] After being reported missing, his body was found half-an-hour later underneath the pool covers.[10] An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that the boy drowned in a blind spot and that lifeguards had not received adequate training on identifying blind spots and ensuring the pool was fully supervised. The operators of the pool, Dundee Leisure, were fined £40,000 following the investigation.[11] A temporary lifeguarding station was established until the wall that created the blind spot was knocked down.[6]

During the demolition of the building in January 2014, the roof partially collapsed on top of an excavator. The operator escaped unharmed.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Then and now- changing Dundee: the V&A site". University of Dundee. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "Olympia Leisure Centre from The Gazetteer for Scotland". www.scottish-places.info. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  3. ↑ "Praise for leisure centre". Dundee Courier. 29 August 1991. p. 11. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Olympia Leisure Centre-a world of fun". Dundee Courier. 28 August 1991. p. 13. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Tory councillor still opposed to Olympia". Dundee Courier. 5 September 1991. p. 4. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  6. 1 2 Wilkie, Stephen (18 November 2009). "£40,000 fine for pool where boy, 7, drowned". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Photographic survey of the Olympia Leisure Centre, Dundee". Canmore. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "Museum visitors to be greeted with scene from Olympia's heyday". The National. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  9. ↑ "How Did Lifeguards Not See My Drowned Son?". Daily Record. 1 October 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  10. ↑ "Boy drowned in 'blind spot' just feet from lifeguard in swimming pool". www.scotsman.com. 17 November 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  11. ↑ "Pool firm fined over drowned boy". 17 November 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  12. ↑ Beatson, Jamie (5 May 2022). "Demolition workers' lucky escape after roof collapses on digger at Dundee swimming pool". Daily Record. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
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