The Vancouver park board voted Tuesday evening for staff to revisit its plan and find a way to keep the Olympic-length lap pool in the design, after the board was told last week that the longer pool wouldn’t be possible for a variety of reasons, and that it should be replaced by a 25-metre pool.
The original hope to renew the 50-metre pool at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre could still go the distance.
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The Vancouver park board voted Tuesday evening to direct staff to revisit its plan for a major update for the aging centre and find a way to keep the Olympic-length pool in the design.
The amended motion approved this week calls for removing the proposed leisure pool feature to cut costs and open up space, in favour of a renewed 50-metre lap pool.
“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 read. In addition to the downsized pool, the plan’s design had included improved leisure features like a lazy river and a larger hot tub.
Tuesday’s request for a revised design is the latest development in a long-proposed plan to revitalize the Vancouver Aquatic Centre, and came following two days of hearing from dozens of people involved in competitive swimming and other members of the public. Competitive swimmers say they need a competition-standard 50-metre pool to train for swim meets.
In 2022, Vancouver residents voted 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.
Even with downsized, 25-metre pool, staff last week expressed concerns that the budget had grown to $170 million.
“That neglect is why we’re in this position. That needs to change,” he said, calling it a “generational decision” to ensure the centre retains a 50-metre pool.
Staff were given one month to report on whether maintaining a 50-metre pool was viable.