A new study will examine the future of the troubled Big Splash site in Canberra's north, with the government agreeing to fund the analysis of the dormant water park's future while continuing to rule out rezoning the land.
The government now believes Big Splash will not reopen before a November 1 deadline following a recent unsuccessful sales process, which it said was a disappointing outcome for Canberrans.
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Steel said the lessee of Big Splash had not given the community the chance to have its say on the site's future, so the government would.
"The government is commissioning this report as a practical way of supporting a buyer to come forward who can bring the site back into use as an aquatic facility. This options analysis will give a realistic cost of what is viable on the site to inform the lessee, a buyer, the government and the community," Mr Steel said.
"We call on the lessee to cooperate fully with this process, which we hope will provide a pathway forward for Big Splash.
"I want to be clear that the government is not proposing to rezone the site residential development. Our priority continues to remain seeing a commercially viable aquatic facility reopen for the community to use as soon as possible."
Mr Steel said the government's preference was for a commercial operator coming in to purchase and run the water park but the government had not ruled out any options, and was open to potentially working with other partners.
"I've heard calls from the community and members of the Assembly that the ACT government should just buy this site. Well, first, we don't know what the value of the land is and what the costs might be of bringing some of these facilities back online and then adding new facilities," he said.
"So this will give us the information that we need to understand what those costs are but the government's clear preference is that we want a private operator to bring this site back into use as an aquatic facility."
Mr Steel said the Southern Cross Club and previous operators were among groups that were interested in putting forward planes for the site.
"This report will enable those interested parties to come and present their plans and that will be considered as part of the options analysis that will be undertaken," he said.
Mr Steel said he would release the options report publicly and it would take about a year to complete.
"We want to use this report as an opportunity to give potential buyers and operators the information they need to make a decision about potentially having an interest in this site in the future, whether that be a sale, whether it be partnering with others to bring this facility back online," he said.
The analysis would "deliver a detailed understanding of the practical costs of delivering various facilities, including slides, re-opening pools and other amenities, as well as land valuation, and provide analysis of a viable models of commercial aquatic facility operations on the site," the government said.
Under the direction of Access Canberra, either the current mortgagees or a new owner is supposed to open the 50-metre pool and food amenities to the public by November 1, 2026.
Access Canberra in April 2026 decided not to terminate the Crown lease on the site, given the "substantive actions taken by the owners, including site clean-up and repair of the pool infrastructure to re-open the site as an aquatic facility by 1 November 2026".
Mr Steel would not comment on the independent regulator's role what action it might take when asked on Tuesday.
"They obviously will make their own assessment about whether the lessee is in compliance with their lease," he said.
More than 2100 people signed a petition calling on the government to terminate the Crown lease and take the water park back into public ownership and restore its swimming pools and water slides.
