Melbourne's Yarra River Could Be Getting a Swimming Pool
This proposal could be the best use of the Yarra yet.
Melbourne has long suffered aquatic inferiority to its Australian (okay, Sydney) counterparts. It doesn't have a Bondi, more harbour beaches than it does train lines or a slew of pools where you can catch a glimpse of the Harbour Bridge while doing a few laps of backstroke. But that could all be about to change. In what could be the final thing to make Melbourne the greatest city in the world (subjective, of course), a local non-profit has released a concept for a goddamn swimming pool in the Yarra River.
According to The Age, the designs for the Yarra swimming pool were announced last night at as part of Australia's Venice Biennale Exhibition, The Pool. The concept has been jointly created by Melbourne non-profit Yarra Swim Co and UK architects Studio Octopi, who are responsible for proposing a similar concept on London's River Thames. We could probably jump in the Yarra for our excitement.
Together they've created a concept for the Yarra pool, which includes a 25-metre lap pool and a smaller children's play pool with planted pontoons off Enterprize Park, which is down under the train lines next to the aquarium. Of course, this doesn't include simply setting up some booms and some lane ropes and charging people six dollars a pop to do some laps. The Yarra is filthy (thanks to that time it was a dumping ground for industrial run-off) and that water needs to be filtered. According to the project's website, they are looking into locally developed technology that may allow river water to supply the pool. The proposed aquatic structure would also have spectacular views from the water and surrounding decks, as well as a cafe and an activated riverbank. 'Ave a look at this render.
Inevitably this thing is set to cost a lot of cash — six to eight million, in fact. At the moment the project is just a concept, and Yarra Swim Co will be looking at sponsorship, grants and perhaps even crowdfunding to make up the money. Whatever it costs though, now we know it's an option, we will not rest until we can swim in the Yarra and get a specialty coffee on the banks of the river when we're done.
Via The Age.
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