The pool is drained and a guard railing has been bolted to the floor around McKinnon Pool at the University of Victoria.
The windows are also painted over and it’s ghostly quiet, lending to the feeling of the uncertain future of a swimming pool that for more than 50 years produced world-calibre swimmers and was enjoyed by thousands of recreational users from UVic and the wider community.
The university abruptly announced in early July it was closing the pool without any plan for a replacement. Two months later, after a public outcry, UVic president Kevin Hall relented with an announcement that the university will do another engineering study to see if McKinnon Pool can be patched up to keep going for a few years — or perhaps not at all.
It’s left hundreds of swimmers in limbo and battling for space in the region’s six other pools — some of which are also facing precarious futures.
“We’re trying to fit our swimmers in where we can, where’s there’s space, and that’s been tough,” said Rod Barratt, senior coach of Pacific Coast Swimming. “But we definitely have fewer than we would have if [McKinnon] was kept open.”
He said the club has been cramming swimmers into Gordon Head and Commonwealth pools, where lanes are bristling with five to eight swimmers at a time. “That’s crowded and I think most public swimmers aren’t comfortable with two or three in a lane,” said Barratt.
He said Pacific Coast Swimming from September 2023 to this past July registered more than 1,800 swimmers and at any one time had more than 1,000 active members. About 400 of those swam at the McKinnon Pool every week from September to June.
“Closing UVic has a massive impact in the short term on the ability of PCS to service the needs of those roughly 350 families,” said Barratt.
He said it also affects four Masters clubs, a kayak safety program, synchronized swimmers and engineering students who test submersible equipment.
The closing at UVic is straining the region’s other facilities, he said. And some of those face uncertain futures. Crystal Pool is scheduled to be replaced and the City of Victoria considering a referendum to authorize borrowing of money. The YM-YWCA pool in downtown Victoria has an uncertain future with possible redevelopment plans, and some of the other pools are aging, said Barratt. He noted Juan de Fuca was built in 1972, Oak Bay in 1975 and Panorama near Sidney in the 1980s.
Barratt and others in the swimming community fear the UVic closing might be part of a domino effect and a risk to future health and aquatic safety.
“The majority of the more than 400 weekly PCS swimmers at UVic were young and learning the requisite skills of competitive swimming, but also skills which save lives,” he said. “The down-line risk is that less children will learn to swim.
“If the greater community loses Crystal Pool, and the downtown Y in the next few years, we could experience a time frame in which over 1,000 children per year may not be able to get learn-to-swim spaces,” said Barratt.
He noted most learn-to-swim programs at existing pools are sold out as soon as they open.
“This is a massive risk in our community … one worth far more than the amount of money required to assist UVic in maintaining the pool until plans for the new one can be put in place.”
UVic, meanwhile, said in an update it has identified a team of architects and engineers who specialize in aquatic systems to conduct a more detailed engineering study of the work needed to safely reopen the pool for the next “three to five years.”
Part of the study will include some testing at the base of the pool.
The university expects the results of the study before the end of the year.
“It will provide greater detail and further cost estimates to add to the surveys and structural engineering reports already in hand, and will confirm the investment required to keep the McKinnon Pool operating for three to five years as an interim solution, while longer-term options can be fully explored,” the university’s athletics department said.
UVic said it will be better prepared to respond to public offers of support for funds to cover costs associated with keeping the pool open on an interim basis. Times Colonist editor and publisher Dave Obee has offered to help raise funds.
UVic had indicated in July that its own engineering studies indicated it would cost at least $1.525 million to maintain the minimum safety standards to keep the pool operational. It said that “conservative estimate” does not include consulting costs, contingency costs or investments for seismic upgrades or ongoing operational and maintenance costs.
“Longer-term, further assessments would need to be completed for a more accurate estimate, but it is expected to be several million dollars,” a UVic statement said.
“If the costs are not prohibitive, we would welcome working with those who have shared their willingness to support raising funds to operate the pool on an interim basis.”
The university said it does not have additional funding available in its current fiscal plans to cover the expected costs.
According to UVic, the pool operates at an annual deficit of about $260,000, with costs at $340,000 and revenue from rentals and memberships at $80,000. There have also been additional costs for emergency repairs.
Though a new pool was part of its capital plan for the new Centre for Athletics, Recreation and Special Abilities (CARSA) facility in 2008, there is no plan for a replacement pool on campus.
“Despite efforts, we were unable to obtain the funding or debt room to build CARSA to its full design, and the aquatics facility was pushed to a Phase II, should new funding and partnership opportunities materialize,” UVic’s statement said.
“The university is still paying off the initial costs to complete Phase I of CARSA, including through athletic and recreation programs and services.”
The university said its priority in its current five-year capital plan is student housing to address those shortages in the wider community.
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