The lease for the Phillip Swimming and Ice Skating Centre has been sold, according to the manager who says he understands both the pool and ice rink will continue to be operated as going concerns.
Long-time lessee Dr Wayne Houghton sold the lease for the facility "just before Christmas", according to manager John Raut.
Dr Houghton has held the lease since 1979, operating the pool for more than 40 years.
In recent years, speculation has been rife that the site will be sold for the development of more apartments. Whether that does happen remains to be seen.
"Dr Houghton has sold it to another owner," Mr Raut said.
"So it's going to be somebody else who'll be responsible for the maintenance of the pool."
Mr Raut could not say who bought the lease but believed they were from Canberra.
"You'd have to talk to solicitors or Dr Houghton himself," he said.
"I think the new owner has every intention of painting the pool and getting it up and running. I've been asked to stay on and keep operating it for him until they get things sorted out and I've agreed to stay on."
The development comes as the facility is informing patrons the swimming pool will not open at all this summer - for the second year in a row.
Mr Raut blamed the wet weather for preventing the pool from being re-painted and re-opened in time.
The sale of the lease appears to have taken the government off guard, coming during the end-of-year shutdown.
As late as December 19, Sports Minister Yvette Berry had written to Dr Houghton "seeking clarification on when the swimming pool will open to the community for the 2022-23 season".
With confirmation the pool would not be opening at all this season, an ACT government spokeswoman said it was now "considering its options"
"The government has continued to ask the operator of Phillip pool on when its maintenance works would be completed, and the pool reopened and has not received a satisfactory response to date," the spokeswoman said.
"Given the operator is not in accordance with its lease, the government will consider its options early in the new year."
Now, if the lease has been sold, it will be incumbent on the new operator to meet the conditions of the lease.
The government put Dr Houghton on notice almost a year ago that it expected the pool to be open this summer "and beyond".
With no movement on opening the pool, Ms Berry wrote to Dr Houghton on December 19 asking for clarification on when it would be available for use by the public again.
"I am advised the swimming pool requires some repairs before it is safe for use, with this work currently being undertaken," Ms Berry wrote.
"Given the impact the pool's closure is having on patrons and your obligations to ensure the pool is operational, could you please advise when the necessary repairs will be completed and when the pool will be ready for public use.
"I look forward to your response so that we can inform the Canberra community about access to the pool over summer."
But, it seems, instead of answering Ms Berry's concerns, Dr Houghton sold the lease.
The pool, in the meantime, remains empty and unable to be used.
Mr Raut said the pool had to be repainted every three or four years and was due to be repainted again.
"We've had continuous wet weather, I suppose, and most people think you get two or three days of dry weather and you can paint it," he said.
"But the moisture levels in the concrete are fairly high and there was no opportunity to do so and the closer you get to Christmas, of course, the harder it is to get anyone to come in and do some work."
Mr Raut said they had been "fighting a battle".
"There was bare concrete on the bottom [of the pool]. It's a chlorinated rubber paint and we paint it every three or four years and it was time that [we] needed to paint," he said.
"There were sections of concrete that were breaking away from underneath. ...You can't make silk out of a sow's ear. We've done the best we possibly could over the last 20 or so years but it's not a great pool. It needs constant repair."
The government has been advised as far back as 2012 to negotiate with the owners so the ageing facility could be modernised.
In 2006, Dr Houghton told an Assembly committee that maintenance of the pool was an ongoing concern and the operation of the pool was subsidised by the ice rink.
Mr Raut said the government's more recent support of a new ice rink in Tuggeranong had created too much uncertainty for Dr Houghton to develop the Phillip site.
Mr Raut said since Labor had announced its support for a rival skate rink ahead of the 2016 election things had "been tough" for the Phillip facility.
"I think Barr's mob has never ever given us much confidence to do any major development or redevelopment there because they keep announcing a new ice rink," he said.
The ACT government is supporting a development put forward by two private companies to design, construct, own, operate and maintain a new ice sports facility in Greenway.
Ms Berry announced in November the government had signed a "heads of agreement" with Cruachan Investments Pty Ltd and its development partner Pelligra Holdings Pty Ltd.
