Future of Vancouver Aquatic Centre uncertain after court halts demolition
When Vancouver’s new park board meets for the first time in November, the fate of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre could be back on the agenda after a B.C. appeals court temporarily halted demolition.
The B.C. Court of Appeal granted an interim injunction Oct. 13, stopping demolition work until Nov. 3 — a day after the new board’s inaugural meeting, giving commissioners a chance to reconsider the controversial redevelopment.
The plan calls for replacing the West End aging facility’s 50-metre pool with a 25-metre pool, a move that has drawn opposition from swimmers and clubs.
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“The injunction buys time. It does not reverse anything,” said director Jon Girard on the society’s website, adding “unless a majority of the new park board is willing to revisit the 25-metre decision the demolition picks up where it stopped” when the injunction expires.
The injunction prohibits interior demolition, stripping and site preparation, protecting the pool basins, interior structures and exterior, according to the society.
The court also gave the City of Vancouver permission to seek changes to the injunction, with two days notice to the society, to allow hazardous-material removal that would not compromise the building.
The city plans to replace it with a $175-million facility featuring a 25-metre pool, leisure pool, sauna, diving tank, expanded fitness room and multipurpose space for community events. The new building would occupy the existing site’s footprint, with a park board report citing space and timeline constraints as reasons 50-metre pool designs were deemed unviable.
The loss of the 50-metre pool has alarmed competitive swimmers and clubs, which say the facility is needed to train athletes and host provincial- and national-level competitions. Swimming Canada has described the loss of 50-metre pools across the country, including in Vancouver, as part of Canada’s “aquatic facility crisis.”
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on vancouversun.com — the content belongs to Vancouver Sun.
