Vancouver park board staff were only able to assess the full damage at Kits Pool a few weeks ago after the pool could be fully drained.
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Kitsilano Pool, a favorite Vancouver outdoor recreational spot steps from the ocean and the longest in North America, will likely be closed over the summer due to significant damage from the January storm.
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The announcement drew disappointment from many swimmers, such as Vancouver resident Ann Gibbon.
“I really love that pool… It’s a very meditative activity, slicing through the water, staring up at the mountains,” she said. “It’s a real jewel.”
Gibbon goes on opening day in May and swims three or four times a week there, closing out the season around Labor Day. During COVID-19, when swimmers had to register online, she had her iPhone set to remind her of registration times.
On Jan. 7, an intense low pressure system with sustained winds of 70 km/h sucked up water from the ocean and sent huge waves crashing over the pool and deck. The storm also flooded the seawall in Stanley Park, swept a barge onto Sunset Beach and damaged Jericho Pier.
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“This storm was unlike anything we’ve experienced before,” said Peter Fox, the city’s manager of recreation services, in a video posted to Twitter. “While King tides are predictable and happen every year, this was an unusual confluence of events.”
Vancouver park board staff were only able to assess the full damage at Kits Pool a few weeks ago after tides and groundwater levels had subsided, and the pool could be fully drained, Fox said. He pointed to long cracks in the pool deck floor, as well as other places where deck panels were lifted. Repairs will also be needed in chambers that are used to fill the pool.
“To keep everybody safe, we really need time to do the assessment and the necessary repairs,” said Fox in the video, adding this will likely be extended into the summer.
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To offset the closure, the park board is planning to open both New Brighton and Second Beach pools earlier each morning and it will look for other options, said Fox.
Pool Kits reopened in 2018 after a months-long upgrade that cost $3.3 million and included replacing the pool basin membrane, repairing the deck and adding pumps to replenish sea water.
The closure of Kits Pool after the January storm comes as some promoters of outdoor swimming pools have been discussing where it makes sense for them to be located from the perspective of climate change.
Margery Duda of the Vancouver Society for Promotion of Outdoor Pools recently posted on the group’s Facebook page: “Sea level rise caused by climate change will result in devastation to people, land and infrastructure. Sadly, this will include the inevitable loss of Vancouver’s iconic Kitsilano swimming pool and Second Beach pool, which are located directly on the waterfront.”
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She added the City’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy recommends investing in new infrastructure off the shoreline and that the park board has approved outdoor pools in Mount Pleasant and Marpole.
She mentioned “the longer-term goal to make Trout Lake safe again for swimmers will mitigate the further loss of outdoor swimming pools in Vancouver.”
“With the climate crisis upon us, access to swimming pools in urban areas is crucial for preventing deaths resulting from heat emergencies,” Duda said.
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