Pool opportunity knocks

By Bridget Brady
THE future of the Cranbourne Indoor Pool site is uncertain, but staff have been assured they will have job opportunities at the new Casey RACE.
The Cranbourne Indoor Pool will close when the $37 million Casey RACE, which is 95 per cent complete, opens in Cranbourne East.
The YMCA manages the indoor pool and will also manage Casey RACE when it opens.
YMCA south-east group manager Michelle Young said staff had been offered the opportunity to apply for positions at the new aquatic centre.
Ms Young said some of the many jobs on offer were positions for customer service, health and fitness instructors, duty managers, lifeguards, aquatic education teachers, childcare staff and cleaners.
“We are committed to ensuring that our staff have continuing employment and are excited that the new facility will also create new opportunities for local employment.”
The Cranbourne Indoor Pool is located on Crown land at Grant Street and the site is managed by the Cranbourne Racing Centre and the Cranbourne Racecourse Recreation Reserve Committee of Management.
Cranbourne Turf Club chief executive Neil Bainbridge said there were no concrete plans about the future of the site, but said it was a unique opportunity to have land available close to the town centre.
“There is a master plan being developed for the whole site and we have had preliminary discussions with the City of Casey about how to best utilise that space for the community,” Mr Bainbridge said.
“It is a very important piece of land in Cranbourne and pretty rare to have a wonderful parcel of land available in the heart of a growth centre.”
City of Casey acting director of community services Sophia Petrov said the council would work with the committee of management to come up with non-aquatic options for the site and “ensure the committee of management is able to respond to future racing needs”.
The council is looking into linking the racecourse and other Cranbourne icons such as the Royal Botanic Gardens to the retail heartland.