The multi-million pound refurbishment of the Galleon could take two years to complete.
Leisure bosses have admitted that the makeover of the Kilmarnock centre will be a complex project when it does eventually get underway.
A capital investment of £13.859m was previously signed off by East Ayrshire Council's cabinet in 2019 but the project was paused for two years during the pandemic.
According to an estimated timeline, the coming months will see the tender process begin along with the appointment of a multi-disciplinary design team. Then a design team review of the current Royal Institute of British Architects stage 0/1 feasibility proposals will be carried out between April and May this year.
And between May and September 2023 the design team will prepare stage 2 of the concept design proposals.
Early indications point to the project being wrapped up in December 2026.
Part of a lengthy statement from Kilmarnock Leisure Centre Trust reads: "As detailed within the report presented, the timescale for construction works on site are difficult to accurately determine at this stage however, it is considered that post-contract operations on site could take in the region of 24 months (potentially completing in December 2026) due to the complexity of the project.
"The centre has performed and met targets set in line by East Ayrshire Council Cabinet in June 2021.
"We thank all our staff, customers, partners and members of our community for the support and loyalty they have shown despite the very challenging times that we are in.
"Whilst we still continue to face challenges, our hope is to keep progressing the refurbishment project in 2023 and work towards bringing in a breath of fresh life to our much loved and well used facility and reducing the impact of the rising operational costs.
"We hope that you will give us your support, patience and understanding during this period."
In December last year, trustees unveiled a wishlist of features for the remodeled centre.
We also reported that the cost of the project was likely to rise with the most recent estimates citing a bill of £20.6m, largely due to the impact of Covid, Brexit and rising energy costs.
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