Victoria residents vote in favour of $168.9M plan to replace city's only public pool

Victoria residents have voted in favour of a plan to replace the city's only public pool.

About 60 per cent of the 15,500 people who cast votes in Saturday's referendum gave the city the go-ahead to borrow up to $168.9 million to build a new Crystal Pool and Fitness Centre, according to preliminary results. Voter turnout was just over 21 per cent. 

Voters were also asked to choose between two new locations for the replacement pool.

The north option, which would be $6.7 million cheaper, would require tearing down the old pool and building the new one in its place. 

The south option, would see the new pool built next door to the old pool, where a playground and sports courts currently stand.

More than 60 per cent chose the former, which will mean tearing down the existing pool and building a new one in its place. 

While the location question was not binding, city council has said it will try to honour the choice made by voters.

With the borrowing plan approved, city staff are now expected to move toward the design stage. The project is expected to take five to six years to complete.

If more voters had chosen "no," council would have had to come up with a new plan for the pool's future. 

Current pool getting harder to maintain

Crystal Pool is more than 50 years old, and the city says it needs to be replaced. Before the vote, officials said the pool is getting harder to maintain due to its age.

"Many of its systems are beyond their useful life and it's getting more challenging to maintain the facility and to source replacement parts," said Derrick Newman, the director of parks, recreation and facilities with the City of Victoria.

Newman said the building's design also "leaves much to be desired."

LISTEN | Weighing in on the Crystal Pool and Fitness Centre referendum:

This is Vancouver Island16:54What is the Crystal Pool referendum all about?

On February 8, Victoria residents will decide whether the city can borrow up to $168.9 million to build a new Crystal Pool and Fitness Centre. They can also weigh in on which of two locations they'd prefer: on the site of the existing pool, or right beside it. Because Greater Victoria residents often cross municipal boundaries to use pools, the results could impact swimmers across the region. On this episode: what exactly the ballot questions are asking, and some arguments for and against each option. 

It serves as a recreational facility, too — but the cardio equipment is on the pool deck, meaning people are working out in the humidity created by the pool. 

The building also contains a lot of stairs and is not up to modern accessibility standards. The new facility would have more fitness and recreational space and be fully accessible. 

To pay for it, the city will take $47 million from its reserve funds and borrow the rest. 

That could result in an average, annual property tax increase of $240 for 20 years — though some councillors have pointed out the cost difference could come from service cuts instead. 

It will be up to future councils to determine whether taxes are raised or services are cut in order to pay back the debt and replenish the reserve fund. 

Residents divided

Before the vote, Victoria resident Karmen McNamara said it would be worth the cost to get the new pool built sooner rather than later. 

"The most important thing to me is that we take an aging facility that's about to fall over and not function anymore and replace it with something that our community can continue to use for the next 50 years," said McNamara.

While no one can say for sure how much life the current pool has left, she doesn't want to risk having it become irreparable before its replacement is built. 

Sean Kahill disagreed.

Prior to the referendum, he said he's more concerned about the lasting debt and the possibility of cost overruns. He thinks the proposed plan is too extravagant for a city of just under 100,000 people. 

"If we were to actually just plan a smaller pool, that would be so much easier. It would be so much simpler," said Kahill. 

The proposed new pool will be 50 metres long, which is the same as the current pool. It will also have a leisure pool with 25-metre warm-up lanes, a shallow area, play features and a lazy river, as well as two hot pools, a steam room, and a sauna.

The current pool has two warm pools, a 160-foot water slide, a sauna, a steam room and a hot tub.