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[UPDATE] New West seeks input on Canada Games Pool replacement

The City of New Westminster wants your input on the renewal of Canada Games Pool and Centennial Community Centre. The pool, built in 1973, and the community centre, constructed in 1967, are set to be renewed.
Canada Games Pool
New Westminster's plan to address climate change include developing new green building guidelines for all new buildings. Those guidelines are being used in the development of the new aquatics and community centre that will replace Canada Games Pool and Centennial Community Centre.

The City of New Westminster wants your input on the renewal of Canada Games Pool and Centennial Community Centre.

The pool, built in 1973, and the community centre, constructed in 1967, are set to be renewed.

“We are at the very early stages of that redevelopment plan, but we have made the big decision to build a replacement pool and to keep the facility on the same locate,” Mayor Jonathan Cote told the Record. “Now we want to engage the community and say what do you want this facility to be into the future? What do you like about the current facility? What would you like to see added, potentially, in a new facility? It’s through that feedback that we are hoping to ultimately come up with some preliminary designs for the new version of the Canada Games Pool.”

The city has hired HCMA Architecture and Design to facilitate a public engagement process, which includes an online survey, an open house, consultation with stakeholders and several engagement opportunities at community events in the summer.

“As part of the first phase of consultation, we want to ensure that the renewal of Canada Games Pool and Centennial Community Centre reflects the values, needs and identity of our community,” said Dean Gibson, the city’s director of parks, culture and recreation. “We want to hear from all members of the community, both users and non-users, to share their feedback and help form a vision for the future of these facilities.”

In recent months, city council and senior staff visited a number of aquatic facilities in the region to see some of the latest trends and talk to people about what works - and what doesn’t. The city is now launching the Your Active New West community engagement process.

A press release from the city states that both facilities have been identified as being in a “state of decline” following a series of assessments and feasibility studies.

“Our major goal in this is to make this project federal grant ready by the end of the year,” Cote said. “It’s still unknown at this point what opportunities are going to exist but it’s our understanding it’s going to be a significant community component of next year’s federal budget and we want to make sure we are prepared and ready to take advantage of that.”

Lisa Spitale, the city’s chief administrative officer, said council has allocated $200,000 towards the planning work, which is in the preliminary stages.

Coun. Chuck Puchmayr said the survey included a section asking people to pick a number of items listed that they’d like to see in the facility, such as indoor cycling and an indoor running track.

“We are so limited with the funds we have to build this. We already know that we are really scraping to make this happen without having a huge exposure to the taxpayer,” he said. “I am troubled when we start asking those kinds of questions... I would like to stay focused on what we are trying to do.”

Mayor Jonathan Cote said the city genuinely wants to hear from community members about their vision for the pool and the community centre.

“We are not going to be able to afford everything on that list, but I think it is important to understand where the community priorities are,” he said. “I think there’s definitely going to be some comments from the public that want some components of the existing facility to remain, but now is the opportunity – a once in a generation opportunity – to potentially add new components that aren’t there right now.”

Information about the project and the survey can be found at www.newwestcityca/YourActiveNW.