Council mulls pool upgrades

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This article was published 15/06/2017 (2499 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Steinbach Aquatic Centre turns 15 years old this fall, and city council is turning its attention towards a growing list of significant upgrades needed to ensure the popular recreation facility is kept shipshape for future swimmers.

In back-to-back presentations to city council this week, parks and recreation department head Russ Dyck and operations manager Paul Penner spoke about the work to be completed. The pool’s moist, chlorinated environment means the facility ages faster than the city’s other recreation facilities, Penner said.

The floor of the outdoor pool, built in 1979, has crumbling concrete joints in need of repair, said Dyck. In the atrium, acoustic baffling and lighting fixtures need to be replaced, and the ceiling needs sanding and repainting to prevent rust. Grout around the opaque glass blocks that permit natural light is also starting to fail, while new lockers are needed in the changing rooms. Filtration systems meet current guidelines, Dyck said, but added filtration capacity may prove to be a wise move.

“These obviously will require some substantial investment, and can be done over a number of years,” said Dyck, “But it is something that I think should start sooner than later.”

Cost estimates and a timeline for the upgrades have not yet been established. This year, the city’s parks and recreation budget includes funds for wall painting and a handicap lift replacement, scheduled for completion during the pool’s fall shutdown.

Spring swimming lesson registrations this year totalled 1,590, up from 1,428 in 2016. A grand total of 138,212 swimmers walked through the aquatic centre’s doors in 2016, Dyck said, and the facility now employs 46 people year-round.