The public services committee heard on Monday that residents are favouring having established recreation facilities on both the north and south sides of the city. An artist rendering from August shows a possible concept for an outdoor aquatics facility located off 13th Avenue SE.--SUPPLIED IMAGE
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City staff on Monday told a committee that an ideal situation would be to have a recreation facility located on both the north and south sides as they provided an update on the proposed South Side Outdoor Pool and Brier Run Sports Field.
Public services committee members were provided background analysis on the city’s Parks and Reaction Master Plan and part of Council Strategic Properties, which focused on developing more recreation and wellness opportunities, before sharing community feedback regarding a new aquatic centre on the south side.
According to a survey on Shape Your City that received 2,883 responses, 81.9 per cent supported building an outdoor facility on the south side. Nearly the same total (81.4) approved of the proposed location. More than half (52.6) were supportive of some level of tax dollars being used, while just 22.2 per cent were against that.
The previous council in October approved $3.9 million to fund preliminary design for a new outdoor pool and waterslide, which would be constructed in a plot of land located behind Hillcrest Church.
Early estimates for construction provided to council in October pegged the total cost between $25 million and $35 million, while development costs to the proposed Brier Run Sports Field could range from $15 million to $20 million.
However, the city is actively looking for collaborations, partnerships and avenues such as grant funding to help with the project.
James Will, director of parks of recreation, told committee members if the project is not able to attract outside funding, council may have to reconsider the large budget ask.
“It makes us think, is this a project that we should do? If nobody else is buying into it,” he said. “We certainly know from the community, the feedback we got from the community, some initial feedback from the province around the project is looking like a decent project.
“We know that there is an economic impact, having tourism dollars come to the community, we feel it’s the right move moving forward but certainly we would be coming back to council with the results of our preliminary design and detailed design before a decision on next steps.”
Coun. Dan Reynish cited multiple recent outdoor pool closures impacting local swimmers and wondered why the city would consider an outdoor concept when an indoor pool could be utilized year-round.
Staff say the city’s immediate need currently is to find a replacement for the aging Crestwood Recreation Centre.
“We would say it’s on borrowed time,” said Will. “Crestwood will need a major repair in the magnitude of millions of dollars at some point in the near future.”
Moving forward, staff are seeking to issue an award for Request for Proposal for preliminary designs for the outdoor pool by January, and would like to finalize the preliminary design for the south side pool and detailed designs of Brier Run in Spring 2026.
Next fall, the city aims to finalize the land acquisition agreement for the 13th Avenue site that would seek council approval, with final design and construction for the project part of next year’s budget.
Should the project go through, the city could see shovels in the ground in 2027.
