CITY council chiefs are to ask the Scottish Government for millions of pounds in extra cash to help revamp the Royal Commonwealth Pool.
The £37 million project, which has to be completed in time to host the diving competitions at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, is facing a major funding shortfall.
Sports Minister Stewart Maxwell announced an additional £1m grant last week as part of
the 2014 "legacy" programme.
Council leader Jenny Dawe said the extra money was "very welcome", but she added: "It would have been even more welcome if he had made it £10m."
At the same time as refurbishing the pool, the council is planning another major sports redevelopment – demolishing Meadowbank Stadium and building a smaller sports centre on the site.
Cllr Dawe said: "We have put aside enough to get on with things, but it will be extremely difficult to do them both.
"The chances are we will be going back to the Scottish Government and seeing if we can negotiate some more help."
She said one of the problems with the Commonwealth Pool was the constraints imposed on possible redevelopment because it was a listed building.
"The building cannot be extended in any way, so the swimming lanes will never be of Olympic standard," she said.
Cllr Dawe added that the council had considered disposing of the pool and building a replacement.
"If you started with a piece of land and built a brand new facility which was totally up to international standards, that could be done for less than it will cost us to refurbish the pool," she said.
"Someone might have taken it over and used it as a pool, though not to the same standards. There was an approach, but the listing was an insuperable problem."
She said de-listing the building would have given more options for redevelopment. "I believe officials did make tentative approaches but we were told 'no way'."
The £25m redevelopment plan for Meadowbank, funded partly from the sale of part of the site, will include a 5000-seater stadium, a new running track and an indoor sports complex.
To secure Government funding, the council must make sure the new centre meets the criteria laid down for "national and regional sports facilities".
Cllr Dawe said: "If we were not able to raise enough money, we might have difficulty making it a truly national facility."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We have offered to meet the council to discuss its available funding."
The full article contains 423 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
