The City of Vancouver has proposed a plan to reduce the size of the Vancouver Aquatic Center (VAC) and replace its 50-meter pool with one that’s 25 meters.
The Vancouver Park Board says that the 50-year-old pool has reached “the end of its functional lifespan.” Built in 1974, the facility was temporarily closed last year after a chunk of concrete fell from the ceiling.
The new facility being proposed would include a 25-meter pool along with a diving platform, a leisure pool, and other recreational amenities including a new fitness center.
Although the proposal would see the removal of the Olympic-sized pool, updated regulations have meant that the facility has not been able to host a 50-meter competition since the 1990s.
The VAC annually hosts three short course meter competitions, and the proposal mentions that future SCM meets would be enhanced with the addition of warmup and cooldown facilities from the new dive tank and leisure pool.
The VAC is located in Sunset Beach Park just off the Seawall pathway in Vancouver. The Canadian Dolphin Swim Club, which has more than 350 members, is among thn local teams that rent the pool for training.
“It would really displace a lot of our programs, and we’re not sure where we would go,” Canadian Dolphins President Jeannie Lo told CBC. “We potentially have to reduce our program significantly.”
Canadian Dolphins head coach Kelly Taitinger said: “All of a sudden they are going to cut the pool in half and close it down for three years. Basically it will destroy the club, I believe, because we train out of this pool only, 260 people. Trying to find space and time for that many people is going to be hardship.”
The city’s other 50-meter pool is located at the University of British Columbia (UBC) just over 10km away.
Canadian Olympian Hau-Li Fan spoke with CBC about how training at the VAC helped him prepare for the Olympics, having raced at the Tokyo Games in 2021 in the men’s open water 10km event.
“I would say those years I trained here really cemented my passion for the sport,” he said. “In order to race at the Olympic level, top athletes around the world train in long-course pools.”
Phil Skinder, director and head coach at the Pacific Swim Academy, spoke about how the VAC is the only 50-meter pool his club is able to get access to, and losing it would obviously be a big hindrance to training.
“The only 50-metre pool we can rent at right now is the Vancouver Aquatic Centre,” he said.
“If this becomes a 25-metre pool we lose about half a kilometre square of pool space … you are going to have to share less space with more people.”
He added that Vancouver already has long wait-lists for swim programs, and removing the 50-meter pool will only exacerbate the problem.
“So many children have not had access to lessons through the COVID shutdowns … kids are not getting to learn how to swim,” Skinder told CBC.
Vancouver Park Board commissioner Brennan Bastyovanszky said he’s advocated the city for more money to help maintain the 50-meter pool, but to no avail.
“I am disappointed that we don’t get to have the pool,” he said. “I wish the city would put more money toward this project.”
Initially budgeted at $140 million, the aquatic centre redeisgn now requires an additional $30 million for $170 million total. Renovating without removing the 50-meter pool would be even more expensive.
A petition to keep the 50-meter pool has been launched by swimmers and parents, with over 11,000 signatures as of Monday morning.
The Vancouver Park Board is set to vote on the proposal on Monday, Feb. 24.
The new Arvada Aquatics Center pool in Arvada, Co a Denver suburb recently opened. The pool replaced the aging George Meyers 50 meter pool. The new is a 50 meter by 25 yard facility with bulkheads, a separate warm pool for lessons and warmup use. It doesn’t have a 10 meter platform although they did put in a 5 meter platform. It’s cost was around $40,000,000 which was bemoaned about by many of the locals but apparently it’s a bargain compared to Canada.
I’m curious how “renovating without removing the 50-meter pool would be even more expensive” than the redesign build of $170m total. Like how is that even possible?
Regardless, this is a city proposal that should be shot down quickly. Going through with it would hurt swimming in Vancouver as a whole, for the reasons mentioned in the articles/quotes above, and also would screw over anyone who swims at UBC. Would be embarrassing in principle for a city the size of Vancouver to have only one 50m pool.
Yeah…we just wrote about a $45 million proposal to build an entire massive 50-meter complex in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and that pool is going to be very, very nice.
$170 million for just a redesign…is crazy to me.
VAC is the go-to, but it’s outdated and presents structural challenges where it sits on the beach. When city planners and architects get hold of pool designs, costs seem to rise. Real estimate prices and construction costs in Vancouver are high to begin with.
Note that Hillcrest and Second Beach are two other 50m pools, however, these are recreation focused facilities with recreational values and goals. Second Beach is outdoor and closed most of the year.
$170 million CAD is about $120 million USD.
Which is still totally insane.
A pool that was just finished in Sweden for $45 million (a few pictures can be found via the link below).
Some of the features are:
one 50m pool with a section that can be raised from the bottom for 25m competitions.,
one 25m pool for lessons, and other activities, with a deep area for UW hockey/rugby and a 1 meter diving board.
one warm water pool with a bottom that can be raised and lowered,
3 play pools with with different sizes (depth) for people of different ages.
4 water slides
hot tubs, saunas, gym, restaurant etc.
It was not built to host big meets as it only have seating /… Read more »