'A betrayal': Swimmers head to court seeking to block Aquatic Centre downsizing

Jon Girard and Mayeli Alvarez are directors of the Protecting Our Vancouver Aquatic Centre Society, and they are fighting the city in court changes to the aquatic centre on Beach Avenue. Photo by Jason Payne /PNG

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Aggrieved Vancouver swimmers will try to convince a judge this week that city hall is disregarding the will of voters by planning to replace the 50-metre pool at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre with one half that length.

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The case, to be heard Friday in B.C. Supreme Court, argues the city received voter support, through a plebiscite during the 2022 municipal election, to borrow $103 million for a new Vancouver Aquatic Centre with a 50-metre pool. The petitioners argue the city has no legal authority to spend that money on a 25-metre pool instead, which is the option Vancouver’s park board and council endorsed after the 2022 vote.

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“It’s an inherently undemocratic decision they’re making,” said Jon Girard, an avid swimmer and representative of Protecting our Vancouver Aquatic Centre Society, the group formed to file the court case last year. “Most of the people who voted feel like it’s a betrayal.”

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The city disputes this, arguing in its court response that the plebiscite question didn’t “mention a 50-metre pool.”

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The day in court comes ess than two weeks before the 52-year-old indoor pool at Sunset Beach is set to close for the last time. The city expects to begin demolition this fall to make way for the new 25-metre pool.

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The city says the West End centre “has reached the end of its functional lifespan.”

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Girard and many fellow swimmers, including representatives of competitive swim clubs, want the existing building renovated, with the 50-metre pool retained. The longer lanes, they argue, are preferred by many fitness swimmers and are crucial for competitive athletes.

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Girard has compared a 25-metre pool to “asking the Canucks to train on half a hockey rink.”

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The city of Vancouver’s only other indoor 50-metre pool, at Hillcrest, is overcapacity, swimmers argue, as is the one at the University of B.C.

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Swimming Canada, the sport’s national body, raised alarms last year about closures of 50-metre pools across the country, including Vancouver’s, saying Canada’s “aquatic facility crisis” is jeopardizing the country’s ability to produce competitive swimmers.

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“After every Olympics, we have seen an influx of swimmers who want to be the next Summer (McIntosh),” Jocelyn Jay, Swimming Canada’s associate director of sport development, was quoted last year in a report on the Canadian Olympic Committee’s website. “But we are hearing from clubs that they have waitlists because they simply don’t have the space in the pool for the pools that remain.”

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The petitioners argue that Vancouver’s 2023-2026 capital plan, which was made public before citizens voted on the plebiscite, highlights a renewed and expanded Vancouver Aquatic Centre, with the project’s first phase “prioritizing the renewal of the 50-metre lap pool and diving pool.”

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Vancouver voters approved the plebiscite’s borrowing question with 68 per cent in favour.

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However, after the 2022 plebiscite, park board staff determined that preserving a 50-metre pool would require making the existing building larger “to be compliant with accessibility and current design considerations.” A staff memo estimated maintaining a 50-metre pool at the site along with other proposed features could increase the budget by $100 million.