The District of Kent has promised to put aside just over $4 million to pay for a proposed indoor aquatic facility that could come into the community as soon as 2025, if the district’s grant application is successful.
“Through the fall and winter months, the closest pools are either Hope or Chilliwack, and those are each 30 minute drives for residents,” Jennifer Thornton, director of community services and projects at the district, said.
“Any time we put out a survey for recreation services … an indoor pool usually comes up as a priority.”
A new Investing in Canada Infrastructure grant, announced by the federal and provincial governments in September 2018, means the district could be able to build a new indoor facility, on that could replace the aging Ferny Coombe Pool, which is now 40 years old and only open in the summer.
The new facility would include a six-lane pool, a shallow leisure pool, a hot tub, change rooms and a lifeguard staff room, all built off the south side of the Community Recreation and Cultural Centre (6660 Pioneer Ave).
The District of Kent has been looking into an indoor pool for more than a decade; in 2018 the Centennial Park Master Plan survey showed 71 per cent of participants were in favour of a new pool.
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“We know there’s a need in the community from the residents, just to alleviate that driving distance,” Thornton said.
The new pool would also provide recreational opportunities for residents in Harrison Hot Springs, as well as local First Nations and residents in the nearby Fraser Valley electoral areas.
“We’re really looking at it as a regional service pool,” Thornton said. “Because all of those surrounding communities have limited access as well to those types of amenities.”
The proposed aquatic centre is expected to cost around $15 million, and have a subsidized net operating budget of $600,000.
The district is applying for funding for the project through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure program, which supports local governments with community infrastructure through a cost-sharing agreement with the federal and provincial governments.
The district will be applying for funding under both the community, culture and recreation stream (which would cover up to 73.3 per cent of the cost), and the rural and northern communities program (which would cover up to 90 per cent).
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Under the community, culture and recreation stream, the district would have to pay just over $4 million for the pool — an amount that district staff said was achievable thanks to the district’s borrowing capacity. However, if the district would have to pay more than $4,000,500, then the project will be put on hold.
“The project actually is supposed to be in your financial plan right now” when you apply for the grant, Judy Lewis, director of financial services, said during council Monday (Jan. 14). “And it’s not in our financial plan.
“So we do have to show that we have the funding in the bank and we have the money in the financial plan,” she continued. “Currently I can’t go beyond the $4 million in saying we have the cash in the bank.”
If the grant is successful, the project will be added to the municipality’s five year capital plan.
The District of Kent has until Jan. 23 to submit its application for the grant money. Successful grants will be announced in the fall of 2019, Thornton said.
If the grant is successful, the district will have five or six years to complete the building. If the district doesn’t get the grant, they will likely apply again in future intake periods.
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