After questions about the District of Port Hardy’s pool revitalization project began popping up on social media, Chief Administrative Officer Heather Nelson-Smith answered quickly by posting a brand new timeline to the district’s website.
Originally, the district had planned to entirely replace the 40+ year old pool with a state of the art multiplex. However, after being turned down for funding by the federal and provincial governments, council decided to move forward with a “Pool Revitalization Project” that would simply upgrade the existing pool.
Back in June of 2021, “due to the extensive leaks and mechanical failures, the pool was closed at the end of June to determine what was needed to be done to reopen the pool,” Nelson-Smith stated in the update.
Later in July of 2021, “District staff removed tile from the areas where the pool was losing water to find that substantial damage had occurred in the basin, which continued to deteriorate and increase the flow of water from the pool.”
Stantec Engineering was called in to review the structure and mechanical systems, and by January of 2022, “council received information and presentations regarding the chlorination options for the pool. It has been determined that the best chance to preserve the life of the building, components and liner will be converting from a salt system to a chlorine puck system.”
According to the information listed in the new timeline, “design work is underway for the pool upgrade, including a new steel liner, dehumidification system, chlorination system, boilers, pumps and secondary disinfection” and tenders will be issued for the upgrades in July.
From there, once tender submissions have been received, council will be reviewing the budget and issuing contract awards, which will lead directly into construction from September to February, and then a tentative opening in March of 2023.
Mayor Dennis Dugas stated he is confident council will be able to finish the project by the end of the timeline. “We don’t see anything that will be changing at this particular time,” he said. “That’s the plan and we’re sticking to it.”
He added the district is financially in a good spot to finish the project and that council shouldn’t have to raise taxes to meet the funding requirement.
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