Inglewood pool to close in December after tight vote by Calgary city council – Calgary Achi-News

After almost 62 years in the community, Inglewood Pool will close its doors permanently later this year.

In a narrow 8-7 vote, Calgary city council finalized its decision in 2021 to close the aquatic center on Tuesday.

Councilors Andre Chabot, Dan McLean, Sean Chu, Terry Wong, Raj Dhaliwal, Sonya Sharp and Mayor Jyoti Gondek voted against the proposal.

Ward 9 Cllr. Gian-Carlo Carra, who represents the area, said that the discussion about the future of the facility has been going on for several years, but few options have been left in the city.

“The time and place for Inglewood Pool is coming to an end, and it’s sad,” Carra told reporters.

“But this is a decision that is being made for very rational and logical reasons.”

The administration recommended speeding up the timetable to close the mine, which is now scheduled to close permanently on December 22.

Back in 2019, the city council voted to close the pool as part of budget cuts across the organization.

City officials said the pool was closing at the time due to low usage and high operating costs.

But as part of the council’s decision to fund a $45 million expansion of the MNP Centre, formerly the Repsol Centre, the Inglewood Pool was due to remain open until those upgrades were completed in 2027.

According to city officials, the shorter schedule would save the city $1.4 million in “immediate repair and operating costs.”

“There is no safety risk to customers or staff but there is the potential for a full electrical systems failure, rendering the facility inoperable and immediately displacing user groups with no ability to relocate them in the short term,” director of recreation and social programs the city. , Heather Johnson, to the council.

An assessment found that repairing the aging infrastructure and electrical system would cost $600,000 and would require the facility to be closed for up to three months to complete.

“If we spent all that money, we will come back and the subsidy would be even higher because of all the money we pumped into it, and it would be r use is still low,” said Carra.

Residents of the area continued to rally to save the facility, with many appearing to share their views with the council during Tuesday’s meeting.

Fiona McKenzie, who led a rally over the weekend to drum up support to keep the facility open, urged the council to vote against closing the pool.

McKenzie asked the council to consider the elderly who rely on the facility for water fitness classes, the visually impaired who also use the facility for classes, and low income families in the area.

“For many, walking 45 minutes, scootering in the winter, taking two buses each way for an hour to commute to MNP only to pay double the entrance fee is not a realistic option,” McKenzie said.

During the debate, several city councilors raised concerns about closing the city-run facility due to previous council decisions.

“Calgarians see these facilities as their tax dollars at work and worth what their hard-earned dollars are paying for,” said Sharp.

Meanwhile, Chabot questioned whether it would be in the best interest of the community to close the facility, and added that he would prefer to wait to make a decision until the administration has provided an analysis on “the true capital requirements to maintain this facility for the next. two years.”

Gondek noted that her vote was swayed when it was revealed that there was no imminent risk to public safety if the pool remained open.

“If you had come to us and said there is a very serious public safety concern and we need to shut it down faster, I would have supported this,” Gondek said. “But the fact that there’s not really a public safety concern… now I’m torn.”

In his argument, Ward 3 Cllr. Jasmine Mian said the city finds itself “in a public recreation crisis.”

Mian said she encouraged her colleagues who voted against closing the pool while also pushing to lower property taxes to properly fund the city’s upcoming recreation strategy.

“The same ones who approved lowering the tax rate, which always leads to cuts in recreation, are the same ones who are now saying ‘no, we shouldn’t close it,'” said Mian. “I hope the same people who are going to support not shutting down the pool today are going to show up and fund the GamePLAN Strategy when it comes across your desk.”

GamePLAN, which is expected to be presented to the council early next year, is a strategy to guide leisure services for the next 30 years and includes an investment plan in facilities.

According to the city administration, there will be a public event to celebrate the legacy of Inglewood Pool before its doors close later this year.

& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.