Swim B.C. president says the group is ‘devastated’ as the revised plan calls for a lazy river and 25-metre lap pool, rather than the 50-metre pool Vancouver voters backed in 2022
Vancouver park board staff have told swim clubs at the aging Vancouver Aquatic Centre that rebuild plans have changed and the proposed 50-metre replacement pool should now be half the size.
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At a meeting three weeks ago, the clubs were also told the rebuilt facility would include a large lazy river and a hot tub more than 10 times the size of the existing tub.
“We are devastated,” said Swim B.C. president Jeannie Low.
In 2022, Vancouver voters backed a plan to borrow $103 million to rebuild the 51-year-old facility at Sunset Beach. The following year, Vancouver council included the redevelopment in its 2023-2026 capital plan and agreed to spend $140 million in total on the facility.
This included replacing the current 50-metre pool with a pool the same size.
“The technical team explored various 50-metre pool configurations, including expansion into the adjacent Sunset Beach Park, but ultimately determined this approach would not be viable,” the report reads.
The reasons given included that there is not enough space for a larger pool, that expanding the existing footprint could uncover artifacts and that the budget — even with a 25-metre pool — had increased from the approved $130 million to $170 million.
“It was determined that prioritizing a 50-metre pool within the existing building footprint would be at the expense of all other aquatic/leisure components,” the report states. “The result is a hybrid of a 25-metre swim (pool) and a full complement of dive competition program, with an increase in community and leisure design considerations. This recommended program maintains or enhances all existing services (except the 50-metre pool) and offers more diverse programming opportunities.”
Low said the various swim, dive and underwater hockey clubs at the aquatic centre are reliant on a full-sized pool and that Vancouver has a shortage of places to swim. The City of Vancouver has nine indoor pools, one of which (Hillcrest) has a 50-metre pool that can be customized. The University of B.C. has a 50-metre pool.
“Our mindset is that there should be a pause on the decision to proceed. Find another place to build a 50-metre pool and keep the Vancouver Aquatic Centre open and operational until it is built,” Low said, adding a 50-metre indoor pool could be built for $26 million.
Scott Lear, a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University, said that Vancouver voters supported a rebuild that included a 50-metre Olympic pool.
“That has been switched with no opportunity to talk about it,” said Lear, who swims at the aquatic centre.
He said that with 30,000 new housing units expected to be built in Vancouver, there is a need for more swimming spaces, adding that a smaller pool leads to more conflict between swimmers.
Lear, Low and other swimmers will attend the park board meeting on Monday to present a petition asking commissioners not to support the staff plan.