New Westminster is taking the plunge and embarking on plans to build a brand new pool.
Canada Games Pool’s days are numbers after a technical assessment of the pool’s infrastructure concluded it’s in “critical” condition. The city had been contemplating whether to refurbish the existing facility or build a new pool, but has concluded its money is better spent building a new facility.
Canada Games Pool is one of the most important civic facilities in New Westminster and has the highest usage and attendance of all the city’s facilities, said Mayor Jonathan Cote.
“Unfortunately, it is also a facility that is starting to show its age,” he said. “As the (staff) report highlights, the millions of dollars of maintenance that would have to go in just to keep the facility going is starting to get to a breaking point. The decision has been made to move forward with the redevelopment of a new Canada Games Pool.”
According to the staff report, the city would need to spend $11.2 million in the next 20 years to renew the facility, with $2.3 million needed in 2016 and $6.9 million required in 2019. Those repairs would require the pool to be shut down for about two months in 2016 and four months in 2019.
In addition to sinking millions of dollars into an aging facility, the city is also concerned the pool is “reaching a degree of functional obsolescence” when the city’s current and future recreational needs are considered. The pool was built for the 1973 Canada Summer Games.
A staff report outlined a variety of repairs needed to the pool’s architectural, mechanical and electrical systems in the next five years. The condition of a number of “hidden services” cannot be fully evaluated due to the significant cost and disruption such as piping and electrical conduits.
“What we do know are the big ones. The unknowns just amplify that even further,” Gibson told the Record. “Without doing what we call destructive testing, which is opening up pool decks and digging up the ground, you can really only go on the experiences and opinions of consultants who look at these things on a regular basis.”
If any of these systems were to fail, the pool could be off-limits to community members for a considerable time.
“If you have to dig up a main drain line, for example, you are closing the pool down to do that work. You are not out for days, you are out for months,” Gibson said. “That interruption in service is probably one of the big drivers we are concerned with.”
Cote said the city will be embarking on a significant process over the next two years to plan and develop the pool.
The city will be applying for potential grants from the federal government to help with the cost of replacing Canada Games Pool. The city’s 2015 capital budget includes $100,000 for this project, but staff anticipate about $200,000 will be required in the next nine months to do the work that’s needed to submit a grant application, such as market analysis, demand analysis, a community centre services review and public consultation.
A staff report to council included the costs of recently constructed aquatic centres: Guildford Aquatic Centre in Surrey - $47.3 million; Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre - $55 million; the UBC Aquatic Centre - $39.9 million.
“That hasn’t been determined,” Gibson said of the new pool’s location. “It would be prudent for the city to examine all of its options that are there. Given the size of the footprint of any new building, it does limit the number of options the city might have.”
