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City puts costs aside to reopen dormant facilities as stage three sees opening of parks, Oasis, Library, skate park, War Musuem and more

Jason MennellKalgoorlie Miner
Kalgoorlie-Boulder has just recorded its hottest September on record. Pictured is Jacque Pieterse, 9, Xandre Pieterse, 13, and Dwayne de Swardt, 10, cooling off at the Goldfields Oasis on the Queen's Birthday long weekend.
Camera IconKalgoorlie-Boulder has just recorded its hottest September on record. Pictured is Jacque Pieterse, 9, Xandre Pieterse, 13, and Dwayne de Swardt, 10, cooling off at the Goldfields Oasis on the Queen's Birthday long weekend. Credit: Kelsey Reid

Life will return to Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s City-owned facilities from tomorrow.

The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder yesterday revealed the Goldfields Oasis Recreation Centre, the William Grundt Memorial Library and the Eastern Goldfields Community Centre would from tomorrow be “operating as normal”.

All City-owned parks and playgrounds will also be opened up, including Kingsbury Skate Park and the Goldfields War Museum.

However, all facilities will still be subjected to limitations set by the State Government for the easing of restrictions. Phase three of the State Government’s roadmap to recovery, starting from tomorrow, allows gatherings of 100, provided the new physical distancing rule of 2sqm per person can be met.

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That will rise to 300 for venues with clearly defined separate areas that can fulfil the minimum distancing requirements. That includes the Oasis, which will reopen its swimming pools, gym and group fitness classes.

The sauna and cafe will also reopen, and so will the indoor stadium, but it will be limited to bookings only.

The creche at the centre will remain closed, and swim school will return on August 1. In an email to Oasis members, the centre said it did not want to “jeopardise the health and safety” of its staff and members, and the nature of swimming lessons meant it would be impossible to comply with physical distancing requirements. City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder chief executive John Walker yesterday told the Kalgoorlie Miner that although opening the Oasis would likely see the centre operate at a greater loss than normal, it was a “no-brainer” to have the facility up and running again for the community.

“We didn’t put financial considerations into this one,” he said.

“The only real consideration we had there was water, making sure the temperature could be brought up in time and that the quality was right.

“Public water is strictly regulated so we didn’t know if we’d have enough time to do that, but we have.”

Mr Walker said monitoring the numbers in the facility would not be an issue, and without swim classes, limited use of the stadium and scheduling of fitness classes, a limit of 300 would not be far off the number of people using the gym and pool before the restrictions were enforced.

But while most facilities would reopen, the Goldfields Arts Centre will remain closed.

Mr Walker said he was confident the annual Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum, which had been rescheduled for October, would go ahead as planned at the centre.

“When you think of this we went into COVID restrictions about mid-March,” he said.

“We’re pretty much out of them before mid-June so that’s less than three months and we’ve got four months to potentially Diggers.

“Even if the interstate boundaries aren’t adjusted, there are probably still 1800 delegates that come from Western Australia.”

Mr Walker said October could mark the month Kalgoorlie-Boulder made its mark, with the annual Race Round also scheduled for the same month. “We’ve got to be back and fully operational no later than that,” he said.

“Clearly if you don’t get transmission there is no reason to not move, so I think the community will continue to pressure the Premier to get things up and going.

“With pubs going and people circulating, we’re going to know pretty quickly whether community transmission is a problem.”

The City also revealed Qantas would increase the number of flights between Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Perth from two to five a week by the end of the month.

Mr Walker said it was “a step in the right direction”.

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