Victoria has officially begun the process of deciding what to do with the aging Crystal Pool, an issue one councillor predicts will be a hot-button topic in the next civic election.
On Thursday, council approved a project charter to gather information for developing options for Crystal Pool. The recommendations are expected in June 2014, five months before the next municipal election.
Coun. Shellie Gudgeon said she found the timing curious and wondered if the information might be brought forward more quickly.
“It looks like this is going to be the next election issue,” Gudgeon said. “Is it problematic that this will become the hot-button issue next election?”
Kate Friars, the city’s director of parks and recreation, said the timing of the election played no bearing in the schedule.
“What we do have is a real need to make some effort to decide what we’re going to do with this facility, particularly from an infrastructure point of view,” Friars said.
“We have worked very diligently to try to bring the project charter together in a way that make some sense to [council] and the public, and inform us with some very critical information.”
Mayor Dean Fortin said elections should never have a bearing on staff work.
“I don’t think, with any work we do at the City of Victoria, that staff should ever be concerned about when there is or isn’t an election,” Fortin said. “We need to do the work and [staff] should not be bringing it forward quicker or sooner.”
Friars told councillors the Crystal Pool and Fitness Centre has served the community well but is more than 40 years old and in serious need of attention.
The facility has never undergone a major refit, according to a staff report, even though it is common practice to retrofit major systems in facilities like Crystal Pool every 15 to 20 years.
A detailed assessment in 2011 found all of the pool systems were at the end of their useful life.
The charter objectives include:
• Engaging the public to create a common understanding of the facility’s condition.
• Assessing the public’s understanding of the financial options and its willingness to fund a pool/recreational facility.
• Determining the type of facility and operational model that has the most support.
• Determining if there are partners willing to be involved in building or operating a new facility.
Prior to the meeting, John Burrows, president of CUPE Local 50 representing city workers, distributed minutes from a 2011 council meeting in which a motion was passed supporting the retention of a public pool and fitness centre in Victoria.
