Future of Templeton, Lord Byng pools in question as Park Board reviews aquatic strategy

The future of Vancouver’s pools is on the agenda at the city’s park board Tuesday night, with commissioners set to hear recommended changes to its proposed 25-year aquatic strategy.

That long term plan, dubbed VanSplash, met with resistance — particularly over the move away from smaller neighbourhood pools.

The board then formed an advisory group of stakeholders, ranging from parents to swim coaches to people with disabilities, which is now returning with its review of the strategy.

The point in the report likely to ruffle the most feathers is a recommendation that East Vancouver’s Templeton pool and Point Grey’s Lord Byng Pool be preserved for at least five years — but not necessarily indefinitely.

The initial VanSplash plan had opened the door to the demolition of those facilities, with the proposed construction of new, larger “community-plus” pools at nearby Britannia and Conaught Park.

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Paula Shaw was one of dozens of residents who turned out to a “save our pools” protest Tuesday to make their concerns known.

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“The advisory group consists of a lot of people who belong to swim clubs, competition organizations, they want a destination pool,” she said.

“We need one. Yes, there’s a lot of people in this town who want competition swimming. However, not at the expense of destroying neighbourhood pools, because that’s where the old folks like me swim. It’s a social place to be.”

While the Vancouver Park Board is set to receive the report Tuesday, it will be months before it votes on an amended VanSplash strategy.

However, Non-Partisan Association (NPA) Commissioner Tricia Barker said she’s prepared to listen to residents’ concerns.

“I don’t want us to close down any of our community pools,” she said.

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“Let’s look at the cost. What do these big destination pools cost, and what if we maybe took some of that money and kept the smaller pools open?”

The future of the community pools was just one of the points touched on in the report, which was clear in its opinion that “we need more pools.”

The report gave a thumbs up to replacing Kerrisdale’s pool as a part of a future community centre, but said the project should be prioritized for sooner implementation.

And it said Mount Pleasant’s wildly popular Hillcrest pool should get a full, competition-sized outdoor pool.

Park Board staff are slated to bring an updated VanSplash strategy to the board in fall 2019.