Addressing the Need for More Aquatic Facilities
With the growth we’ve seen in Kingston over the last few years, there is now a significant need for more aquatic facilities in our community. A shortage of pool space results in a challenge to book swimming lessons for your kids or access other aquatics programs. Our first step to address this need came several months ago, when City Council agreed to contribute $6.5M towards the redevelopment of the pool at the W.J. Henderson Rec complex in Amherstview. This will give Kingston residents access to this new pool facility once construction is completed.
On March 5, City Council approved step two, which is a $25M project to enclose and upgrade Culligan Water Park here at the Memorial Centre. Construction is expected to begin next year, and when completed, will make this pool facility available year-round.
Step three is a move to build a new pool at the Invista Centre. For this project, the City is partnering with the YMCA, with a goal to build a new pool facility which will replace the existing YMCA pool across from the Kingston Centre, and offer more access with a larger pool and wellness centre. Plans for this new pool facility include a 10 lane, 25 metre pool, a separate leisure pool and a therapy pool, and viewing areas for events and tournaments. There will also be a gymnasium, a fitness area and space for a health and wellness centre. The biggest challenge for this new pool facility is the cost – This project will cost just over $100M. That is well beyond the City’s ability to take on alone, so we’re going to need to pull together a variety of different funding sources. The City and the YMCA together can fund about 2/3 of the cost of the project, which leaves about $35M that will need to come from private fundraising and funding from upper levels of government. For now, the City is moving ahead with the design work for the new project, and my hope is that with the right partnerships we can see this new facility become a reality.