In a reversal, Victoria city council decided Thursday to return to the original design for a new Crystal Pool rather than start over and spend $725,000 on a new feasibility study.
Councillors directed staff to report back Feb. 6 on possible sites for the 50-metre pool and fitness centre, including a city-owned parking lot at 940 Caledonia Ave. beside Royal Athletic Park.
A previous plan to build the new pool beside the existing facility at 2275 Quadra St. remains on the table.
But that site appears to have minimal support from councillors due to neighborhood opposition and the potential loss of trees and green space in Central Park.
In changing course yet again, council essentially abandoned its decision in June 2019 to start from scratch on the project after spending more than $2 million on planning and design work.
The consensus then was that the city should investigate the possibility of building a pool that included a broad range of amenities including a community centre, child care and affordable housing.
A library was added to the list at a later meeting.
Mayor Lisa Helps said Thursday that the city’s real estate team is already looking for ways to deliver some of those services at other locations.
“So just because in June 2019 we said all of those things must be part of one project, I don’t think we need to hold fast to that,” she told a committee of the whole meeting.
“I would like us to make a decision about a site in the next month, and I would like to see the original design implemented on said site. I’d like the detailed design done as soon as possible and I’d like us to get funding for this project and I’d like us to hold a referendum, and I’d like us to build a swimming pool.”
She added that there’s a “great deal of risk” involved in delaying the project further, given the age of Crystal Pool and the ongoing cost of keeping it open.
“We have a responsibility for that risk,” she said.
“It’s not staff, it’s not the public, it’s not any of the groups advocating for or against one position. It is [on] us to build a swimming pool before the old one has to be closed down and/or we dump tons of money into the old one.”
On Thursday, none of the councillors supported a staff recommendation that the city spend $725,000 on a new feasibility study in order to meet council’s previous direction to go back to square one.
Instead, council unanimously backed a motion from Coun. Ben Isitt, seconded by Coun. Jeremy Loveday, to proceed with the original design and select a site in the coming weeks.
“This project has been floundering and I think today is a day that we can get this project back on track, and I think this direction will do that,” Loveday said.
“We don’t have an endless amount of money to spend on this project and every time this project is delayed that means more money. So I think we need to find a way forward.”
The city has already lost $6 million in federal gas tax grants because of project delays.
Isitt said he still favours refurbishing the existing Crystal Pool, but is trying to find a compromise that would move the project ahead.
“There’s pressures from two very distinct viewpoints,” he said. “There’s people in the community who are saying: ‘Get on with it!’ They’re mad at us for not building the previous design. There’s others who want us to have a very far-reaching process of dreaming and brainstorming about what this project could be.
“I don’t personally believe there’s public support in the community to have a drawn-out, multi-year process with all the dollars and all the time entailed. I think the public is growing increasingly impatient and they want us to build a pool.
“But this allows us a way to do that without having to sideline the neighbourhood interests and impose the previous project, potentially in a park that’s cherished by residents.”
The parking lot next to Royal Athletic Park now seems to be the site favoured by a number of councillors. But it has issues of its own, since the Victoria HarbourCats Baseball Club relies on the lot for fan parking.
“Not everybody’s able to walk or take transit or bike,“ said Jim Swanson, the club’s managing partner. “Some people do need to take personal vehicles in order to come and be part of coming to games or going to any events at Royal Athletic Park.
“So it’s obviously a concern of ours that there be adequate parking. As it is right now, that parking lot’s not enough for what our crowds are.”
