There could be changes to Steveston Outdoor Pool’s operating hours once it opens to swimmers this summer.
The city is proposing a “hybrid” model, which would maintain the existing number of operating hours but modify the typical schedule to increase length swimming times.
The modifications mean the pool would be open to the public about 20 more hours than in previous summer seasons, according to a city staff report. (In a normal season, the pool is open to the public 436 hours.)
The proposed hours would allow the public to access the pool early in the mornings and in the evenings in July and August, while lessons and swim club use is maintained.
The schedule change is in response to a petition presented to the parks committee in November 2019, signed by 109 community members who asked the pool be open to the public seven days a week from May to the end of September, and that length swimming hours be protected.
Typically, the pool is open from May through to late-August, although it can sometimes remain open into September when Watermania is closed. Public swim hours vary depending on the month, with more hours available in July and August when children are out of school.
In 2020, Steveston Pool didn’t open until July and users were required to register for 50-minute sessions due to COVID-19.
The pool is primarily used by swim clubs such as the Richmond Kigoos, as well as public swimmers and children’s swimming lessons. According to the report, of the pool’s 37,000 visits each year, 60 per cent of swims are by swim clubs and other groups.
While the petitioners asked for increased hours, the report notes that this “is not prudent or realistic” given “current financial realities and the need to manage COVID-19 restrictions.”
If hours had been increased it would have cost the city an additional $14,910 to $57,175 (if implementing the petitioners' full request including opening on May 1) annually. The hybrid model, however, would allow the city to stay within existing budgets for the pool.
Under the hybrid model, more public swim time is added in May and June, scheduled for middays during the week. Under the previous schedule, public swim time was only on weekends during those months.
In July and August, the hybrid model proposes three early morning and evening public swim times, along with two midday public swim sessions, during the week, which would alternate with Kigoos Swim Club. Length swimmers would also have dedicated time on weekdays in July and August, although they will share the pool with lessons.
According to the report, the hybrid schedule maintains an operating season in line with other Metro Vancouver pools. Swimming space in the city also increased by 60 per cent with the opening of the Minoru Centre for Active Living.
City staff consulted with the Aquatic Advisory Board and the petitioners to create the hybrid model, which included a survey and three focus group sessions attended by 15 of the 109 petitioners.
If the hybrid model is approved, city staff will work with the Aquatic Advisory Board and pool users to increase pool attendance and look at whether operating hours could be increased in the future.
The hybrid model is on the agenda for next week’s parks, recreation and cultural services committee meeting.
