Where is the pool money?

Calls are growing for an explanation as to what happened to $75,000 raised in the 1980s for a hydrotherapy pool in Hamilton.

The Hamilton East Rotary Club and Hamilton City Council are at odds over the money. Rotary insists it gave the money to the council, the council says it has no record of it.

The issue of the missing money has come to light as the Hamilton Hydrotherapy Pool Trust attempts to raise at least $1.44 million for a pool at Te Rapa's Waterworld.

Supporters of the project are ruing the fact it was not built 20 years ago; and that $75,000 would have gone a long way to meeting the costs back then, compared to today.

A sum of $75,000 banked at a rate of nine per cent fixed interest rate would now be worth $593,000.

Hydrotherapy pools offer relief to people recovering from injuries and improve mobility among people with conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and joint and ligament damage.

The trust launched its campaign in May and will get $800,000 from Hamilton City Council if fundraising targets are met.

But the fundraising has a sense of deja vu about it, considering the 1983 Rotary project.

Clubs around Hamilton and Huntly raised $30,000 at the time through donations and grants before embarking on a phone pledge on May 30, 1983.

In addition to the phone pledges, Hamilton Rotarian John Burns ran 1250km around the central North Island to add to the coffers, according to a Waikato Times article at the time.

About $75,000 was raised for the then $200,000 project, said Hamilton East Rotary's president at the time John Thorn, but little is known about the fate of the money.

What Mr Thorn, now 90, is sure about is that the $75,000 was raised and paid over to the council.

Plans were drawn up at the time, with the pool pencilled in to be built at Te Rapa. But that's where the trail stops.

Mr Thorn said with Rotary's annual board and management changeover system and several changes in council personnel over the years, he was unclear about what happened to the money.

"It would be almost impossible to track down that money now," Mr Thorn said.

Mr Thorn said the project dubbed Operation 200,000 at the time had strong support from the council, Waikato Hospital and the Rotary clubs.

Hamilton City Council's communication and marketing manager Philip Burton said he has asked staff to look back into the books, but said there was no record of the money.

"We don't doubt that it's a genuine thing that's happened. They (Rotary) may well be right about the money, but we just don't have a record of it."

Mr Burton said the issue of the missing money had been raised in the past, but added that there was now "a bigger picture to focus on" with the new project.

Hamilton's mayor from 1977 to 1989, Sir Ross Jansen, said from his Orewa home that he remembered the project, but had no idea what happened to the money.

One theory is that the money was spent soon after it was raised on some smaller existing pools at Te Rapa, with some of it spent on upgrading the facilities and improving wheelchair access. However, no one can confirm this theory.

Meanwhile, the Hamilton Hydrotherapy Pool Trust held its annual meeting this week, pushing the need for the pool in the city.

Robert Stocks, trustee of arthritis support group Contact, re-iterated the demand for such a facility in a city the size of Hamilton.

"It makes a world of difference. The benefit it could have in peoples lives could be huge."

For more check out: www.hydrotrust.co.nz