Browns Wangaratta won the tender, valued at $16,882,298, which was about 3 per cent over budget.

Infrastructure services director Alan Clark said this was a good result and the project would include the 50-metre pool, hydrotherapy pool, splash pad and other works to the facility.

“We’ll have a FINA-approved pool that will allow us to host state swimming carnivals,” he said.

“The (existing) 25-metre indoor pool will be for the warm up and warm down.

“We’ll have a brand new hydrotherapy pool and if you’ve been monitoring the news on the Border for some time, there’s an extreme shortage of hydrotherapy pools … We expect to see a really significant increase in the use of that facility.”

The decision was made at a special council meeting on Tuesday night.

Councillors voted 6-1 to support awarding the tender.

Cr Harry Bussell said the money would help add aquatics to a prominent sporting precinct at the Barr Reserve.

“This is not just about building a pool, it’s about building a city,” he said. “To grow a town, you need good facilities in this day and age.”

Former mayor Ken Clarke was the only councillor to oppose the tender, saying he believed it was “an impost on ratepayers that will have an impact on economic growth for many years to come”.

“The increasing borrowing costs in the short to medium term put pressure on council achieving an adjusted underlying surplus,” he said.

“Mr mayor and councillors: it will be your head on the chopping block when other economic development goes belly up.”

The project has been funded by $4.4 million from the federal government, $1.5 million from the Victorian government, $100,000 from the Wangaratta Amateur Swim Club, and $6 million from a state government low-interest loan.

Deputy mayor Mark Currie said the spending would result in a pool to last 50 years.

“It’s a project that’s really important and it’s one that can set Wangaratta up in aquatics for a really long time,” he said.

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