When we bought this house 35 years ago, it had a good freeform gunite Sylvan pool. It is 32 feet long, and takes up much of the backyard. Although I'm not a big swimmer, I like having it, and have made the decision to upgrade the pool and the deck. Money is always an object....don't want to do a renovation cheaply (as in, crappy) but don't have a billion dollars, either. Pool people tell me the actual gunite is in good shape and I only need to paint--no cracks. Apparently they used more gunite in the walls in those days--the pool and the deck are built like an interstate....
The issues are these: Bottom drain doesn't work anymore; one skimmer has never been connected to anything, meaning that one skimmer now has to handle all the recirculation; the concrete deck looks bad; and the natural gas heater was long ago removed for financial reasons when it went kaput.
My thoughts are that I need to have at least two skimmers, should replace coping and tile (done 15 years ago, and tile coming off the walls); paint, reinstall a gas heater to make the pool more inviting; do something about the deck.

I am getting conflicting opinions about the deck: can I put stone, like bluestone, on top of concrete? People tell me it will crack and it won't bond. Seems strange to me, and if that is so, what are my alternatives?

I'd appreciate a "reality" check here: what else needs to be done or does this sound like a reasonable list? I'd be grateful for your replies. And, if that list is reasonable, can anybody ballpark a figure for doing this? I know--it depends. But you know--is it $10K or $30K? Thanks!