Pool budget amounts for almost half of all spending over the next four years on recreational facilities in Vancouver
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The Vancouver park board has approved its largest ever budget for community centers and recreational facilities, including $140 million for phase-one of the Vancouver Aquatic Center renewal project.
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This is more than was initially budgeted for the VAC project and was made possible by cutting almost $13 million from a site project related to the West End Community Centre, Joe Fortes Library and the King George secondary school.
The VAC was built in 1974, the same year as the smaller Lord Byng and Templeton indoor pools that have also not been upgraded since.
According to a 2019 parks board report called VanSplash, VAC is one of nine indoor and five outdoor pools in the city and is a center for elite aquatic sports programs.
It was identified as a strong candidate for redevelopment because it is located alongside the water — so there could be outdoor uses incorporated — is not seismically safe and is where the most population growth is expected over the next decade. Operating at close to capacity is crucial to a pool’s economic success as it costs the same to operate despite how many swimmers are using it.
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According to the four-year (2023-2026) capital plan approved on Monday night, stage one of the VAC renewal will focus on fixing the 50-meter pool and diving pool. Swimming pool construction costs rise according to how deep the pool is and how tall the building is. A diving pool is both these things. There were no details in the capital report or the VanSplash report on how the $140 million will be spent or what the next phase would cost.
The VAC’s 50-meter pool is open at the moment, but the dive pool is closed. None of the parks board commissioner’s questioned the cost of the pool.
Parks commissioner John Coupar asked staff why there was no money in the capital budget to build the proposed Mount Pleasant outdoor pool.
He was told that it was Vancouver city council’s decision not to support the pool, despite park board’s support.
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Later in the meeting, commissioners’ voted in favor of reallocating $11.5 million from within the capital budget to design and build the Mount Pleasant outdoor pool. They also voted to ask the city for funding to build an outdoor pool in Marpole and to reallocate $7.7 million within the capital plan toward improving sports fields in the city.
The parks board’s total four-year capital plan is for $539 million and apart from recreational facilities ($329 million), comprises $208 million for parks and open spaces (which is 25 per cent less than the last four-year plan) and $2 million for service yards.
Parks board will be cutting spending on sports fields in the coming four years, with a Sports Field Strategy expected to be released in early 2023.
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Parks board’s capital budget will comprise around 16 per cent of the City of Vancouver’s $3.5 billion capital spending plan for that same period (that includes $700 million contributed by developers) and must still be approved by Vancouver city council on June 29 before it can go ahead .
The parks board has also approved spending $49 million to renew the RayCam community center on Hastings Street, $21 million for recreational facility upgrades, $50 million for vehicles and washroom maintenance, $5 million to upgrade the West End ice rink and funding for new community centers in northeast False Creek and East Fraser Lands.
The parks and open spaces spending includes $15.5 million for seawall repairs.
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