Inglewood residents rally to save doomed swimming pool

A group of Inglewood residents rallied Saturday to try and save their local swimming pool, which is set to be closed permanently by the City of Calgary at the end of the year.

The Inglewood Aquatic Centre will shutter for good on Dec. 22.

City council voted to close the pool in 2019 as part of a larger budget reduction, citing unsustainable long-term operating costs and low usage.

In 2021, residents convinced the city to keep the facility open until construction work to expand the MNP Community and Sport Centre was finished. That work began in September and is expected to complete in late 2026.

However, in May, the city found major issues with the building's electrical system that would eventually doom the aquatic centre. Repairs would cost an estimated $600,000 and require a three-month long closure, along with a chance that further repairs would be needed because of the building's age, prompting the move to scrap the facility sooner.

The Inglewood Aquatic Centre was built in the 1960s. The city said it has exceed its expected lifespan by more than 20 years.

There is still some red tape to clear before the pool is shut down. Council procedure dictates the closure of a facility is within the authority of the chief administrative officer, and city administration is now seeking confirmation of the Dec. 22 closure via vote from council which is expected on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

The land was given to the city decades ago on the condition that it operate a pool on the site, but if that ever changed, the land would revert to its original owner.

With the city unwilling to continue operating a pool on that land, it will be given back to Marchese Holdings Ltd. to be used as part of the proposed redevelopment of the area, which is being led by Matco Development Corp.

Staff at the Inglewood Aquatic Centre will be transferred to other recreational facilities, and the city is working with swim clubs to relocate them to other pools.

Fighting against fate

Inglewood resident Fiona McKenzie, an organizer of the rally to save the pool, told CBC News she feels the city broke its promise to keep the pool open until the expansion of the MNP Community and Sport Centre was finished. 

"There's just many different demographics of people that are not going to be going to this big recreational centre that is busy and loud, and so it will be a big loss," McKenzie said.

She noted the cost of a single day admission to MNP is more than double that of the Inglewood Aquatic Centre, and with construction work impacting available parking, MNP does not allow drop-ins during its member hours — between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Monday to Friday.

McKenzie said rally goers are asking to keep the Inglewood pool open as long as possible, even suggesting taking a portion of the city's $57.5 million investment into MNP to go toward maintaining the Inglewood facility until MNP is ready to accommodate more people.

"They could close it down for six months or a year and put some money into it, right? You know, like fix it up, do the mechanical work, and maybe they could put some newer amenities in there to draw people," she said.

"We'd just like to even get some more time."

'Not well used and falling apart'

Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra, who represents the people of Inglewood, told CBC News that at this point, the aquatic centre is not worth fixing. He used an analogy of an old car that just won't run anymore to drive home his point.

"I think anyone who's owned a second hand car that's not a classic knows they reach a point where the mechanic is like, 'I'm not going to take your money anymore,'" Carra said.

The Ward 9 councillor added he is aware swimming is very important to people in the area, but that the high cost of keeping the Inglewood pool afloat led to its shuttering.

"We need to deliver more flat water pools, but what we also know is that there's just no way for a flat water pool to make money," he said.

"Anytime anybody walks into a City of Calgary swimming facility, they are paying for the privilege to be there, but what they're paying is only covering part of the cost of what it costs for them to swim. The other part is borne by the tax base.... There was really no rationale for throwing a lot of money at keeping a pool going that isn't well used and and is falling apart."

Carra said he grew up using the Inglewood Aquatic Centre and has fond memories of his time swimming there. But despite the community pushing to keep the pool they love open, he said usage remained low and the subsidy to keep the lights on continued to grow as the mechanical and electrical systems in the building degraded.

He added the Inglewood facility only operates a pool and nothing else, whereas similar facilities offer multiple recreational activities in addition to swimming, such as yoga, weight rooms and steam rooms, which draws more users.

Carra also said there was no appetite from the landowner to grant more land for recreational offerings if the city were to consider building something new where the Inglewood Aquatic Centre stands.

"This is a bag of bricks that we have to put down, and, you know, it's sad, really sad. But I don't know, as a governor of the city, how we can do anything else," he said. 

"The protest, I understand it from an emotional level, but... I feel bad because I think a lot of the people who are going out to protest might be under the impression that if enough people show up in protest that they can reverse this decision. And there's just, there's really no reversal of it, it just doesn't make sense."