Pool, splash pad plan adopted by Halifax regional council

Halifax regional council unanimously adopted a 15-year strategy for pools and splash pads.

The plan calls for, among other things, upgrades to the outdoor pool on the Halifax Common.

"I'm glad that is a priority," said Mayor Mike Savage. 

"You see tons of kids trying to get into that pool and I hope it won't be closed for a summer while a new one is built because it'll be a real loss to the community."

The Long Term Aquatic Strategy also calls for a pool to be maintained in a new Needham Recreation Centre and that the Centennial Pool be replaced with a 50-metre competition facility in partnership with a university.

"It [Centennial] doesn't work," said Coun. Waye Mason. 

"It's only six lanes wide and you need eight lanes and there's no place to sit and watch."

Mason went on to say a new pool will probably have to be built elsewhere because the Centennial's current site is not big enough to handle both a 50-metre pool and a 25-metre warm-up pool combined — which is now the standard for Canada Games competitions.

As for splash pads, recreation planners said Eastern Passage, Dartmouth and Beechville-Lakeside-Timberlea need one in the short term — one to three years — and then regional and neighbourhood splash pads for across the municipality could be built over the life of the strategy.

"Although they are less costly than a pool, they are quite a bit more than a playground," explained Phillip Hammond, recreation planning specialist for HRM. 

"So we want to make sure they are located in areas where they will be well used."