Months after requesting a way to avoid decommissioning the popular swimming site Thames Pool, a city committee is backing a motion calling for its decommissioning.
Members of the community and protective services committee voted 5-1 in favour of a motion to decommission the pool and redirect just under $2 million in funds earmarked for repairs to conduct reviews and studies on building other amenities in Thames Park and finding a new location for an aquatic facility.
The motion was put forward by acting mayor Shawn Lewis – Mayor Josh Morgan is away this week – on the basis that the two repair options outlined in a staff report can not be guaranteed to last long.
“Neither (of the options suggested) have any warranty or guarantee of any length of those repairs,” said Lewis. “We could in fact undertake repairs and, in the spring of 2025, have a flood and be right back to where we are with no benefit from all that money having been spent.”
The issue surrounding Thames Pool is the damages it has sustained over the past few years. Staff say the crux of the issue is due to its location which puts it at risk of significant flood damage, hydrostatic pressures and the freeze-thaw cycle. The damage includes movement in the pool floor, failures of the piping systems, and a loss of base support.
Staff had initially recommended decommissioning the pool in the spring, but councillors balked at the idea of tearing down the most popular outdoor pool in the city. The original estimates of like-for-like repairs at that time came in between $300,000 and $600,000. Now the costs have risen significantly.
The most minimal option under consideration would have seen basic repairs to the pool floor and piping, as well as the installation of a weeping tile and a site drain to monitor and mitigate groundwater levels. That would have cost around $1.92 million.
In the second option, some of the piping would be relocated from underneath the pool floor to the sides of the pool. Staff say the relocation would minimize damage from hydrostatic pressures and freeze-thaw cycles. Like the first option, the estimated costs have jumped significantly, to $2.23 million.
City staff say there are numerous reasons for the quadrupling of estimated costs, including increased construction costs and the original estimates not including designing and contingency fees.
Speaking with media members last week, Anna Lisa Barbon, London’s deputy city manager of finance supports, conceded the repairs could not be guaranteed to last, backing Lewis’s point before he even made it.
“The intent of this is to mitigate to the degree possible, but (failure) is certainly a probable circumstance that could occur,” said Barbon.
There had been strong pushback to keep the pool open when it was first slated for decommissioning in the spring. Skylar Franke, ward area councillor for the pool, said the reaction this time had been less vocal and much more varied.
“There is no uniformed voice currently on this issue in Wortley and in Ward 11,” said Franke, speaking as a visiting councillor of the committee as she is not a member.
Franke had started the discussion in favour of option two as a stopgap until a better long-term solution could be reached. While Coun. Susan Stevenson voiced her agreement with Franke’s suggestion, they were the lone vocal supporters of the idea.
Counsellors Lewis, David Ferriera, Jerry Pribil, Corrine Rahman and chair Elizabeth Peloza voted in favour, with Stevenson against.
Jon-Paul McGonigle, director of recreation and sport for London, informed councillors that should the full council approve the motion and eventually approve a new pool somewhere nearby, it would likely be a four-to-six-year timeline with the understanding it would be a new budget item.
Users of Thames Pool are currently receiving free, unlimited passes to other city pools in London for 2023. While McGonigle said last week that the city would re-evaluate how users would be compensated going forward, an additional request from Coun. Ferreira into the motion was added to continue that transportation until a permanent pool is built.
The full council will discuss the committee decision on July 25.