Vancouver Park Board commissioners approved a renovation plan for the Vancouver Aquatic Centre (VAC) that includes replacing one of the city’s only 50-meter pools with one that’s 25 meters on Monday.
After staff put forward the $170 million renovation proposal in February, local swim clubs were told last week that the Park Board assessed that a 50-meter pool was “not feasible”, with a final meeting and vote scheduled for March 31 where objectors could have their voice heard one last time.
On Monday, a majority of Park Board commissioners voted to approve the renovation plan that includes a 25-meter lap pool along with a diving platform, a leisure pool, and other recreational amenities including a new fitness center.
Although the Olympic-sized pool currently in place allows for increased training opportunities for clubs, it has not been able to host 50-meter competitions since the 1990s due to updated regulations. The renovation plan will lead to “improved” 25-meter competition due to the addition of warmup and cooldown facilities with the dive tank and leisure pool, the proposal says.
The VAC was built in 1974, and the facility had started showing its age, including being temporarily closed last year after a chunk of concrete fell from the ceiling.
It is located in Sunset Beach Park just off the Seawall pathway in Vancouver. The Canadian Dolphin Swim Club, which has more than 350 members, is among the local teams that rent the pool for training.
The Dolphins were among several clubs who have been vocal about their disapproval of the new proposal, with more than 70 speakers telling the Park Board that not having an Olympic-sized pool would limit competitive opportunities in February.
That plea led a majority of Park Board commissioners to ask staff to investigate if a 50-meter pool would be feasible, and they were given a month to do so before determining that it wasn’t.
In the proposal published on March 21 and ultimately passed on Monday, staff said it was “not feasible to deliver a 50-meter training pool within the existing building footprint that meets minimum aquatic industry standards while providing the recommended renewal program including dive towers, hot pool and other aquatic and recreation amenities.”
There were further difficulties in expanding the VAC’s footprint due to “mixed-land tenure”.
“Due to the mixed-land tenure, pursuing an alternative option and expanding into Sunset Beach Park would require resolution with the Province and the host First Nations,” the report reads.
“Additional assessments would be required, including archeology, geology, soil stability, sea-level rise, among others.”
Commissioner Brennan Bastyovanszky‘s amendment to the proposal that would have asked staff to look into expanding the footprint was defeated at the Monday meeting.
“While we fully recognize the impact on our existing swimming community from the exclusion of the 50-meter pool, this recommendation looks to best balance against the risk of service losses by limiting our downtime only to the project construction schedule,” Park Board general manager Steve Jackson said on Monday, according to CBC.
Renovation on the VAC would begin by the end of 2026 and reopen in 2029, according to the approved plan.
Prior to the meeting, a large group of club swimmers gathered in front of the pool on Saturday to protest against the removal of the 50-meter pool.
Canadian Dolphin Swim Club and Swim BC President Jeannie Lo said she was proud of her swimmers for “supporting the longevity of the 50m pools and showing what it means to them.”
“It would be, in my opinion, hugely irresponsible to proceed with this build and in this economic climate, and at a very, very big expense, and not deliver something that the community wants,” said Lo. “We will have outgrown that facility before it even opens its doors.”
It’s clear that City of Vancouver and basically all municipal and even federal government “decision-makers” have no clue what current technology can achieve. And they don’t know how to read either:
https://admin.swimontario.com//documents/804/AquaticCouncil_Report01.10.25.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Z-rN-1zSY
Huge, unforgivable mistake and clearly the feckless city council have no vision or understanding for how to manage aquatics facilities that are not simply about competitive swimming but lifesaving skills and long term wellbeing for citizens as they age, etc.
This is very typical for BC as a beyond left-leaning province that cowers in the face of a small and insignificant challenge.
Just do your jobs people!!!
It’s very short sighted to build a 25m pool. What they should building is dual 50mx25m pools for the city. Which offers the use of 44 25m lanes for a wide variety of uses. With twim 50’s you can host Olympic level meets.
In the large meets that bring millions of dollars into the city. You want one pool to be the competition pool and the second as the warm up pool. To fund the hard costs of this facility you have tge power, gas & water companies put up endowment funds which thr government has ti match to put enough money in place to generate enough interest income to pay for the large expense for power, gas and… Read more »
This is beyond heartbreaking 🙁
Oh Canada!
What a shame! The Aquatic Centre (correct spelling) is situated on a postcard-perfect setting – on the beach in downtown Vancouver, beside the popular Stanley Park Seawall with a view of the skyline and neighbouring mountains. Unfortunately, the city has lost the opportunity to develop a world class venue which could easily attract major aquatic competitions from around the world. Given that the First Nations community is currently building a huge residential development on a neighbouring site, their archeological concerns seem to be a convenient excuse for the small-minded, obstructionist parks board.
Hopefully the counter-tariffs will generate some more income and allow Canada to fund a better pool.
This new facility will be serving Vancouver for the next half century. What an unbelievably short sighted decision. It’s like building a new soccer stadium with a field that’s half the length of a regulation field.
Precisely. Well said. A 50M tank is far more versatile than 2 x 25M and obviously goes without saying a single “half pool” aka 25M tank.
Myrtha even makes what’s called thermal bulkheads whereby you can have two different water temperatures on either side within the same tank! 🤓
Swim BC and Swimming Canada are also to blame for this outcome. They have failed to do their main job which is to ensure their constituents’ viability by educating the City and Province as to the need, the future opportunities and most importantly, what are modern, technologically advanced and currently available solutions that exist. The Dolphins and other anchor clubs got screwed over by the folks who are supposed to… Read more »
April fools?
Tragically shortsighted for a city the size of Vancouver. What a shame.
Huge huge mistake for the “world class” city of Vancouver, home to one of the oldest and most successful swim clubs in North America, home to the best university team in the country. To host major club, age group, highschool, national meets the options are very occasionally UBC, or outside of the city to Richmond (big thanks to Watermania staff for ongoing accommodations). Nothing actually in Vancouver itself.