A location for the new Crystal Pool facility has been confirmed.
In a committee meeting on Thursday, March 13th, Victoria council unanimously voted on building the new $209.2 million Crystal Pool on the existing North site.
According to a release, $162.2 million will be borrowed, and $47 million will be used from City reserve funds to reduce the amount of borrowing required.
Nearly 61% of resident voters supported the North site option, which was the cheaper option of the two.
This endorsement will officially get the ball rolling towards a detailed design of the new facility, which is slated to open in 2030 if all goes according to plan.
The design period will take nearly two years, which means the existing facility will remain open until late 2026 or early 2027.
Once construction begins, pool users will not have access to Crystal Pool for a few years.
See also:
- Victoria council to discuss next steps in Crystal Pool replacement this week
- Victorians vote ‘Yes’ to building new Crystal Pool and borrowing up to $168.9M
City Councillor Jeremy Caradonna has been an advocate of the pool project, but knows that the pool’s interrupted service of programming will be a challenge.
To mitigate this, Council endorsed Caradonna’s motion during Thursday’s meeting to ensure there are services in place to alleviate some of the difficulties in accessing other pools—a shuttle bus from Crystal Pool to other facilities during construction, for example.
The new facility will have a 50-metre pool with moveable bulkhead, a leisure pool with 25 metre warm-up lanes, play features, a lazy river and more.
Plus, there will be a large fitness studio, multi-purpose rooms, community gathering spaces, expanded parking and other amenities.
—With files from Curtis Blandy
