North Sydney resident Estelle Blair followed in her mother Debra’s footsteps by learning to swim in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge.

When North Sydney Olympic Pool reopens on Friday after a fraught $122 million rebuild that took more than five years, Blair, 34, her mother, and her 20-month-old daughter Isabel will be among the first through the turnstiles.

“I grew up in Kirribilli so we were here every other day,” Blair said. “It’s great that it’s reopening.

“You couldn’t find a more iconic pool in the whole of Australia. Sitting here beside the Harbour Bridge, the working harbour, the ferries – there’s always something going on. You couldn’t find a more special place.”

The trio represents three generations who will swim at the Milsons Point pool, which opened in 1936. After years of debate and planning, the pool closed for what was supposed to be a $58 million upgrade in February 2021.

When the doors officially open on Friday, residents will have endured 1986 days without a public pool after cash-strapped North Sydney Council’s redevelopment was stalled by long delays, legal stoushes, heritage concerns and cost blowouts.

The debacle became a lightning rod for debate about whether local governments should embark on such large infrastructure projects, as councils across Sydney struggle to upgrade pools.

Mayor Zoe Baker said a rate rise and commercial use of the pool would help repair the council’s finances, pay off debts and fund ongoing maintenance of the complex, which developer Icon completed in May. Despite the cost and long wait, she expected visitors would be won over by the “absolutely beguiling” venue.

“I am thrilled it will be opening and operational for our community and the broader Sydney community – finally.

“Once those doors are flung open to the world, it will be a place where people can come to feel good and have fun. It will serve our community and the whole of Sydney for the next three generations.”

The pool will open to swimmers from 2.30pm on Friday and entry will be free for the opening weekend. Swimmers are encouraged to limit their stay to an hour for the first few days, which are expected to be busy.

It will be the first opportunity for the public to experience the new 50-metre heated outdoor pool, 25-metre indoor pool, program pool, gym, 970-seat grandstand, and outdoor children’s splash pad and water play area.

There is also a reformer Pilates studio, swim school, creche, spa, sauna, steam room, café and gelato bar.

A painstaking restoration has revived original heritage features including the art deco-style eastern wall facing the harbour, the sundeck and eastern stair tower.

Inside, historic images of the pool and some of the famous swimmers who competed and set records there – among them Dawn Fraser, Shane Gould and Murray Rose – have been projected onto a “hall of fame” walkway.

Among the more extravagant details are the underfloor heating and swimsuit dryer in the change rooms, and brass frog motifs that have been inlaid in the tiles around the outdoor pool, inspired by frogs depicted in the eastern wall, costing $42,000. The pool will be filled with treated saltwater drawn from Sydney Harbour.

Blair, of North Sydney, has been driving across the bridge to Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre in Zetland, and plans to enrol Isabel in swimming lessons at the revamped pool.

“It’s good to be able to be within walking distance again. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Blair said the finished facility was “really lovely” – particularly the restoration of the harbourside wall.

“It could have gone many ways, but it looks amazing. They’ve done a fabulous job.”

Her mother, Debra Blair, who grew up and lives in Kirribilli, recalls learning to back-dive at the pool as a child.

“I remember the excitement of the huge tower and diving board. It was like a hang-out spot for all the local kids.”

Blair, 71, said she would later swim laps while Estelle was at swimming lessons. She has mostly been swimming at the beach and in ocean pools for the past few years, but she has been eyeing a return to North Sydney’s pool.

“It might be a bit different now. I might do a bit of aqua aerobics, or be down at the [children’s] pool with Isabel and Estelle,” she said.

“It’s been a long time for the community without a pool, so I’m sure there are a lot of people who use it daily for exercise who are really missing it. I imagine it will be very well received.

“It’s always a privilege to use this pool. Just swimming along doing breaststroke and looking up and out at the bridge and the harbour, it’s amazing. We’re very lucky.”

Blair said the rebuild had been an “absolute dilemma” for the council, which had “suffered greatly from the pool”. But she accepted a 52 per cent jump in residents’ rates over three years to help fund the project.

“Hopefully, the [reopened] pool will generate some well-deserved income for the council, and it will be a pleasure for residents to use. It’s iconic for tourists too, they can catch the ferry across and go for a swim.”