Richmond - The Editor, Re: "Pool size woefully inadequate," Letters, July 30.I am writing in response to the letter by Chris Neale. I disagree with him.
Richmond - The Editor, Re: "Pool size woefully inadequate," Letters, July 30.I am writing in response to the letter by Chris Neale. I disagree with him.I am the chair of the Aquatics Services Advisory Board, and have been a board member for almost 10 years.We have had wide ranging consultations, with the general public, with City Hall staff and with City Council since at least 2007 - at some point, enough should be enough!I know that there are some who would like a 50-metre pool, but for at least seven years the advisory board has recommended that 25-metre pools better meet user needs.A 50-metre pool would be great for younger and competitive swimmers (the demographic that Mr. Neale would have most served at UBC), but not so much so for the multitude of other user groups.We already have a 50-metre pool at Watermania to serve competitive swimmers.We need something that is functional, not some pretty design. We need flexibility, based on user demand, City Centre demographics and the aging population.We need: more lanes for swim lessons; ateach pool; space for therapeutic programs and seniors' aquasize classes.We need the flexibility to have warmer water tanks for the young children and seniors. Most of all, we need more pool space.The proposed design provides 12,648 square feet of pool space, up from 7,860 now, so an increase of 61 per cent more water space, and configured into two or three pools, including a 5,383 square foot leisure pool.Under the options considered, a 50 metre pool could be accommodated, but the leisure and hot pools would be much reduced in size, the teach pool lost, and most importantly, much flexibility in serving the needs of a wider user groups would be lost.Anyone interested in reading the staff recommendations can find them at richmond. ca/plandev/city-projects/minoru-precinct and the link in the "Multi-Purpose Complex" section.It is always easy to criticize public servants, but when they do a good job, they often get taken for granted. While today (at least), I say "thank you." Now, it is time to get on with it.Ian C. MacLeodRichmond
