Phase 1 of aquatic centre renewal to cost $140 million

Vancouver Aquatic Centre gets $140M for renewal project

The Vancouver park board has approved its largest budget for community centres and recreational facilities, including $140 million for Phase 1 of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre renewal project.

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, which have also not been upgraded.

According to a 2019 park board report called VanSplash, VAC is among nine indoor and five outdoor pools in the city, and is a centre for elite aquatic sports programs.

It was identified as a strong candidate for redevelopment because it's near the water — so there could be outdoor uses incorporated — isn't seismically safe and is where the most population growth is expected in the next decade.

Operating at close to capacity is crucial to a pool's economic success as it costs the same to operate no matter how many swimmers are using it.

According to the four-year (2023-26) capital plan approved Monday night, Stage 1 of the VAC renewal will focus on fixing the 50-metre and diving pools. Swimming pool construction costs rise according to how deep the pool is and how tall the building is. There were no details in the capital or the VanSplash report on how the $140 million will be spent or how much the next phase would cost. The VAC's 50-metre pool is open, but the dive pool is closed. None of the park board commissioners questioned the cost of the pool.

Park board 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 it was Vancouver city council's decision not to support the pool, despite park board support.

Later in the meeting, commissioners voted in favour 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 park board's total four-year capital plan is for $539 million and, apart from recreational facilities ($329 million), allocates $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.

The park 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.

The park 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 council Wednesday before it can go ahead.

The park board has also approved spending $49 million to renew the RayCam community centre 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 centres in northeast False Creek and East Fraser Lands.

The parks and open spaces spending includes $15.5 million for seawall repairs.