The $57 million facility is the centrepiece of the Victorian Government’s $85 million Latrobe Valley Sports and Community Initiative.

The centre caters for competitive swimming and training, leisure swimming, general community use and major events.

It includes an eight-lane, 50-metre indoor pool with seating for 500 spectators, an indoor water play zone, two large water slides, a learn-to-swim pool, a cafe and retail precinct and a 25-metre heated outdoor pool.

Visitors can relax using a range of health and wellbeing facilities including a warm water therapy pool, spa, sauna and steam rooms, a wellness centre and a gymnasium with group fitness rooms.

The centre is the first public aquatic facility in Victoria to incorporate a deep bore geothermal heating system – tapping into an aquifer at a depth of more than 600 metres and using the 65-degree heat from the groundwater to warm the pool.

In a boost for the local economy, more than 500 workers contributed over 100,000 hours of labour on-site, providing ongoing work during the coronavirus pandemic.

The project has been delivered by the Latrobe Valley Authority in partnership with Latrobe City Council, with an $8 million dollar investment from Sport and Recreation Victoria’s Community Sports Infrastructure Loan Scheme.

The centre will open to the public from 6:00am on Thursday, 25 March, with public health arrangements in place to ensure social distancing can be maintained for everyone’s safety. For more information, visit Gippsland Regional Aquatic Centre