While Coun. Jonathan Cote is calling for a phased-in renewal of Canada Games Pool, some candidates for mayor have varying views on what should happen at the site.
As the facility approaches 40 years in age, Cote said many of the building systems are approaching the end of their expected service life. He's calling for a phased-in renewal of the facility that was built in 1972 and is still one of the city's most well-used recreational services.
"I think the time is right to start moving forward with plans to refurbish and enhance the Canada Games Pool and Centennial Community Centre" he said. "This is a critically important recreational facility in our city, and we cannot afford to ignore the challenges this facility is going to face over the next 10 years."
Cote would like to see a plan developed to accomplish the following improvements in the next 10 years: retrofit the existing building; add a lobby/fitness building linking Canada Games Pool and Centennial Community Centre; and add a leisure pool and family change rooms.
"Although completely rebuilding this
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER twitter .com/TheRecord JOIN US ON FACEBOOK facebook.com/RoyalCityRecord facility would be nice, the refurbishment option is significantly more affordable and allows the city to take advantage of existing infrastructure," he said.
In December 2010, city council received a report examining options for the Canada Games Pool and Centennial Community Centre - options that carried a price tag between $22 to $55 million in 2010. Options
included: a minimal fix and upgrade of building systems to extend the building's life for five to 10 years without adding new gross building space or addressing any of expansion issues; a retrofit of existing buildings and addition of a new 22,500square-foot lobby/fitness building that will provide a link between the two existing buildings (this option, which would also see the addition of a new 20,500square-foot leisure pool and support space, would be done in two distinct phases); demolition and replacement of existing buildings with new facilities on the sports field/recycling depot site, an option that would include a new 10-lane, 52metre pool, a separate leisure pool, a 20,000 square foot fitness centre, new change rooms, multi-purpose rooms, food concession and support spaces.
City council agreed to discuss the matter as part of the city's long-range capital budget program.
Cote said the city has invested in new facilities to meet the demands of a growing population in the past six years but believes it will be important in the next term to focus on existing facilities such as the Canada Games Pool.
"I think improvements and upgrades to the Canada Games Pool can be accomplished in a number of phases over the next 10 years, but I think it is critical that we start work now on developing a plan on how we are going to get there," said Cote, who currently chairs the parks and recreation committee.
Mayor Wayne Wright believes an upgrade to Canada Games Pool is one of the city's priorities, but he doesn't believe there's funding available to build a new recreation facility.
"Those types of things take years to put into place, and they take the financial ability to do it," he said. "That becomes something to go to the public with. There will be lots of public consultation."
Wright said the city has done upgrades to the pool facility, but further remediation is needed to keep it operating into the future.
"We have to look at the rehabilitation of it," he said. "It is 40 years old. We want to make sure we have it. It is one of the most used places in the city.
Mayoral candidate James Crosty believes the city should have focused on renewing Canada Games Pool before buying waterfront property for Westminster Pier Park.
"As mayor I would have waited to develop the park and channelled the city's portion of the $17 million into the renewal of the much-used Canada Games Pool," he said. "Had this issue been addressed earlier, it would likely have cost significantly less to complete. After 10 years on the radar of city hall, I find incumbent comments of support in an election year disingenuous at best."
Cote responded to suggestions that his stance was disingenuous.
"I have always followed through with my commitments, whether it was the youth centre or environmental initiatives," he said. "I see things through, and I intend to do the same with the Canada Games Pool."
The 2008 parks and recreation comprehensive plan recommended that the city begin planning to retrofit or replace the Canada Games Pool and the Centennial Community Centre.
"I don't think this is an either/or situation or it's pitting one project against another," Cote said. "The city has been growing. There have been some extra demands for services."
The City of New Westminster purchased Westminster Pier Park site in 2009 for $8 million and contributed $8.3 million toward park construction. It received $16.6 million in grants from the federal and provincial governments.
"It wasn't a blank cheque to the City of New Westminster. That grant was very specific to the waterfront park. I think it is misleading the public to suggest that money ($17 million) could be spent anywhere," Cote said. "Certainly the city funds we would have control to direct that. I think the time is right to do that."
Crosty believes this is an opportune time to review the broader vision for the area.
"Perhaps we could incorporate the Justice Institute, the fire hall and other sport amenities in the immediate area into one large facility or plaza. A national training centre for sports and/or professionals services could be explored," he said. "I am certain there would be funding support for such a program."
