Strathcona Pool
I know that Scona Pool isn’t within the ward I represent, but knowing how important local recreation hubs are for communities, I thought I would share what happened this week.
Executive Committee, which I am a member of, voted to receive a report for information which means that Scona Pool will be closed in the near future. This was one of the more challenging decisions I have been a part of because no one ever wants to lose a local hub like this.
Before I go into why I voted the way I did, I want to provide a short summary of how we got to where we are. Here is some information from our report.
Scona Pool is 65 years old. The City of Edmonton operated the pool until 1989, at which time the facility was contracted out to a private company. River City Recreation Inc. has been contracted to operate the pool since September 2009.
The facility's physical condition has been closely monitored for many years as the building was noted to have serious deterioration in 2010. The function of the facility is inadequate, with extensive deficiencies impacting operations, accessibility, inclusivity and user experience. The condition of Scona Pool is such that there has been a high probability of multiple system failures, including the structural, mechanical, and electrical systems, for many years.
Maintenance and renewal decisions at Scona Pool are driven by the asset management strategy for the facility. As discussed with City Council in June 2015, permanent closure is necessary upon a significant system failure. At the time, it was anticipated that a significant failure would take place within a year or two. Administration and River City Recreation have worked creatively to keep the facility running for an extended period of time while minimizing significant investment in renewal. The facility, its systems and components are aging and it is becoming increasingly more challenging to maintain it in safe and running condition.
As noted above, the City does complete regular assessments of our buildings and so this was expected. That doesn’t make it any less hard for the community members who regularly visit the pool. When I first read the report, it seemed like it might have been as simple as purchasing a new heat exchanger for the pool at $25,000-$40,000 and then maybe that would add a few extra years while we finish the design and construction of the replacement facility.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple. While that heat exchanger does need to be replaced, we are now at the point that unless we invest at least $6 million in significant repairs to the foundation, walls, roof, mechanical and electrical systems, etc., there would be a very high safety risk to users of the facility. I specifically asked that because I know the age of the building and I thought if there was a medium or low risk, maybe we could justify keeping it going for a bit longer but after getting that response that there was a very high safety risk, there is no way I could justify risking the safety of others.
I should add that based on the experience with Jasper Place Pool, it would be very likely that once we started opening up some of the walls, we would find many more problems which would cost even more to fix and add years of time to the repair schedule. That has happened now with a few different pools that are around the same age.
In terms of what happens next, Scona Pool will likely be closed very soon. During the discussion, we talked about potentially redirecting some of the funding we were using for maintenance to provide a shuttle service for residents to the nearby pools. As the communities around Scona Pool have one of the highest percentages of residents who do not drive, it’s important to provide some easier transit solutions for those residents.
The other big decision point will come later this year around the approval of the Rollie Miles Recreation Centre. For many City facilities, we have a multi-step approval process. This process is the same one we went through for the Lewis Farms Recreation Centre/Library. Rollie Miles is currently working through Checkpoint 3 and that should finish next year at which point we could approve the last two checkpoints which means we would build the new recreation centre. This is the next facility in line and I think we will need to keep this moving forward, even more now that we are without Scona Pool.
Most decisions we make aren’t easy. But this one will stick with me for a long time because it’s clear how much Scona Pool means to everyone. Hopefully, we won’t have long to wait before a new space is made available.
