The closure of the Australian Institute of Sport's health and fitness centre has been called "devastating" by its former clients, who say they have lost their fitness and social outlet.
It was confirmed the AIS Fitness Centre, which was closed during lockdown, would not re-open in early September. While the pool and swimming classes will return, aquatic classes have been cancelled.
"The fitness center has been running for more than 20 years. I've been going there now about eight to ten years. And many of the people who I know have been going there for much longer than that," former client John Rees said.
"When it came by email, we had no prior knowledge of it being contemplated. And to make things worse, it was on R U OK Day."
Bronwyn, 77, and John Allan, 80, attended the centre two or three times a week, using the gym, pool and attending aqua aerobic lessons.
Ms Allan said in addition to the physical benefits, it was the centre of their social life.
"I've made lots of lovely friends here since I retired ... and the same with my husband. He's got Alzheimer's, and he's got a group of guys here that he talks to and everything and it makes a difference," Ms Allan said.
She said her doctors were "amazed" at how quickly she recovered after two back and knee surgeries, attributing it to her time in the gym.
"That is a major concern for all of us, that when it's dropped we will all deteriorate and that will have cost the government more money [in hospital fees]," she said.
"They don't seem to care anymore about us, we feel very neglected, put it that way."
Both Mr Rees and Ms Allan said there weren't any affordable alternatives to the fitness centre in Canberra, especially when it came to aquatic aerobics.
Mr Rees said it provided a crucial service for people recovering from injuries, or who had physical disabilities, which was hard to find in the ACT.
"The facility for recovery type exercises and pools in the ACT is very, very limited. And the AIS had that," he said.
"[For some] aqua aerobics is the only really outlet for them for their exercise. And at this stage there's nothing else."
Sports Minister Richard Colbeck said the centre was not financially viable.
"After careful review, the fitness centre and programs were assessed as no longer commercially viable in an increasingly competitive fitness sector," he said in a statement.
"[Closing] the fitness centre will have no impact on the capabilities of the AIS to support Australia's high performance system.More broadly, a detailed business case has been undertaken for the potential redevelopment of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) campus in Canberra."
A small number of staff are impacted by this decision and the AIS is working closely with them on redeployment opportunities across the organisation.
There is a concern the AIS, which did not receive any funding in the last ACT budget, would be closed down.
Labor MP Andrew Leigh said he is "really concerned about the future of the Australian Institute of Sport."
"I think it's a great national asset. And it's important that it continues to serve sport as a whole," he said.
"I worry that the changes that have taken place ... have reduced the capacity of sports to learn from one another on areas like physiotherapy and sports psychology."
