Save Big Splash is calling on the ACT Government to keep the sale of Big Splash transparent, hold any new owner to the full spirit of the Crown lease and make sure the ACT Aquatic Strategy accounts for the Macquarie water park’s future.

The call follows confirmation the long-closed site is to be marketed for sale with the slides and existing buildings left standing, and with no redevelopment plans attached.

Save Big Splash spokesperson Amelia Tattam said the announcement gave the right operator a chance to take over the site.

“This is the news we have been fighting for,” Ms Tattam said. “The slides are staying and the lease goes with the site. And now the right operator has the chance to step in and give this place the future it deserves.”

Purdon, which represents the first mortgagee owners, says the site will be marketed “as-is” and that work to reopen the main 50-metre pool by November 1 will continue regardless of the sale timetable. Temporary ticketing, change rooms and food service facilities are planned for the reopening.

Access Canberra decided in April not to terminate the Crown lease after inspections and commitments to reopen the site as an aquatic facility. Government papers say the lease permits aquatic and indoor sport and recreation uses, and that the site will continue to be monitored.

Ms Tattam said the group would keep advocating for a buyer capable of restoring the full facility, including the slides.

“We are not done,” she said. “We will never be done until those slides are running again.”

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