The aquatic centre renovation project in St. Marys could be finished this fall.
Town of St. Marys staff has worked on renovating the centre since last November. The facility has been closed as part of the project.
Manager of Recreation Operations and Chief Operator Doug LaPointe said the facility’s pool has been well-supported by the town since it opened in 2008.
“Unbeknownst to the people operating it at the time, the HVAC system was undersized by 50 percent, half of the HVAC capacity they should have had,” said LaPointe.
“In combination with that was the decision to go with the saltwater pool, and the saltwater system had operated for 10 years before we got to a point where the pool’s condition was getting worse.”
He says a decision was then made to remove the salt system and go with a more modern, ultraviolet disinfection system with chlorine on standby.
That was implemented in 2018.
“Once we closed, not only did we have to figure out we needed more HVAC capacity to introduce the system, we also had to fix many things that had been deteriorating much faster than they should have,” said LaPointe.
In an update Friday, the Town said the aquatic centre has seen some changes including installing HVAC ductwork, new windows, new pool filters, and new paint to the pool space, changerooms and lockers.
The budget for this project totals $1.7 million. LaPointe said they are on track to meet or come in under that amount.
He said they approached council with the project idea a year ago.
“Through the advice of our consultants, we took the approach that the cost of not renovating was high as the pool could’ve continued to deteriorate to the point where there would be hard conversations of whether to keep the pool open or to close it,” said LaPointe.
“Council was fully supportive of keeping the pool open and renovating it so we can continue providing that service for the town.”
He hopes with the renovation, the facility will be in much better condition and be maintained for 25 plus years.
“We’re definitely on the part of the project where we’re looking at putting things back together,” said LaPointe.
“The scaffolding can be removed and we can get going on finalizing details, getting it cleaned. We have a lot of staff training to do. We have to get the pool re-filled and the filters back on.”
LaPointe says they’ll have a better idea of when to finish the project and re-open the facility in a few weeks.
