When a building is first designed and built, it is generally expected that, with due diligence of the owners, and the maintenance directed by that due diligence, the new building should be viable for 60 years or more. Many of the commercial buildings in Vernon’s downtown core are proof of that.
Having said that, then the original Vernon Recreation Complex built in 1965 should be viable until 2025, and the 1993 pool addition should be good to go until 2053 – minimum.
So the current reported state of the recreation complex raises some issues:
• If the heating pipes were installed incorrectly in 1965, then perhaps they could have been “made right” in 1993 during construction of the new pool.
• If the de-humidification system for the new pool constructed in 1993 was designed incorrectly, then, at that time, perhaps the design engineer’s liability insurance could have been used to help pay for a re-design and installation of a system that was correct
• But the real issue is, who made the decision to just “turn the de-humidification system off?” What were they thinking? Is this the due diligence that we should expect from our elected and paid personnel of the city?
I believe the City of Vernon needs to do a review of its maintenance policies for all public buildings, and then change the decision-making process that has led to the preventable damage that has occurred at the recreation complex.
Proper maintenance policies and proper annual budgets for that maintenance are considerably less costly that replacing whole complexes.
What would be the point of building a new complex if current policies allow the building to fall apart in half of its expected lifetime?
I also believe that most of Vernon’s taxpayers would support a new recreation complex to address the increased population of the area.
I think, though, that most would welcome it as an addition to current services – not a replacement for a wonderful complex lost before its time.
Brian Goodwin, Vernon
