Ninety per cent of demolition material was saved from landfill as part of the Naenae Pool redevelopment, prompting a Wellington man to go to great lengths to honour his wife.

When Karori’s Malcolm Gunn learned in 2021 that demolition material from the old pool was available for recycling, he was keen to secure a piece of history with strong links to his family.

His wife Gabrielle Gunn (nee Bateup) had created quite a splash at the pool where, as a Naenae College schoolgirl, she set several age group swimming records.

She remains a keen swimmer, especially in open water, and has swum the 40km length of Lake Taupō.

Malcolm was fortunate to be given rimu timber during demolition of the pool, and he immediately had a ripple of inspiration on how to use it.

"I wanted to build something for Gabrielle as a tribute to all the hours she spent at the pool. It was something that forged a life-long love of swimming."

Sitting proudly on a deck he also built at their Karori home is a beautiful bench seat made from the recycled rimu and sporting the original colours from the old pool seating.

"I can’t think of a better place for us to sit with a cuppa and ponder life. Gabrielle may have even sat on the same planks all those years ago."

Gabrielle was touched by the effort and thoughtfulness of her husband.

"He dived straight into the project and I couldn’t be happier with the result. I feel very proud."

Malcolm, who recently retired, also has an athletic tale to tell. He has cycled 3000 km from Cape Reinga to Bluff, and across the North Island from Mt Taranaki to East Cape.

"We’ve always been active - it’s good for the mind, as well as the body."

Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry says it’s great to see the old Naenae Pool live on in a creative, meaningful way.

"It’s heartwarming to see the legacy of the old Naenae Pool live on through this bench - particularly at the home of someone with such a strong connection to the pool.

"Hopefully we’ll see more age group records broken when the new pool is open."

The new Naenae Pool and Fitness complex is being built with sustainability in mind, in line with Hutt City Council’s target to be carbon-zero by 2050.

Ninety per cent of material from the demolition of the old pool and the community hall was saved from going to landfill, including 13,162 tonnes of scrap metal and concrete which was crushed for use as backfill on the site.

Demolition experts McMahon Services won the Asbestos or Demo Best Practice Project over $1 million at the 2022 NZDAA Demolition & Asbestos Awards for their work on the demolition, which demonstrated industry best practice for safety and sustainability.

Naenae Pool and Fitness Centre secured co-funding of $27 million from the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group (IRG) fund, managed by Crown Infrastructure Partners.

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