GALEN SIMMONS, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Town of St. Marys will incur a major, unplanned expense to address the serious deterioration of equipment in the aquatics centre at the Pyramid Recreation Centre (PRC).
At its Sept. 24 meeting, St. Marys council awarded a nearly $1.75-million contract to Elgin Contracting and Restoration Ltd. for renovations that will close the PRC pool from November of this year until at least May 2025.
“The pool has had a couple issues that are pretty significant over the last couple of years,” said St. Marys recreation operations manager Doug LaPointe. “So, we enlisted the services of DEI Consulting Engineers to go over everything. … We basically listened to the consultant when they recommended to us to improve the air quality. That’s the root cause of the issues we’re having at the pool.
“With that, we also need to restore a bunch of things that have excessively deteriorated over the years because of the high humidity and poor indoor air quality.”
While the PRC pool is only 20 years old, both LaPointe and Matthew White, a partner at DEI Consulting Engineers, told councillors that the initial use of saltwater in the pool coupled with the fact that the current HVAC equipment only has about half the capacity actually needed for an indoor pool the size of the one at the PRC is what led to the pool equipment’s deterioration well before reaching its expected lifespan.
“This is not typical of the lifespan of the building,” White said. “We’d expect at least another 20 years out of the equipment, especially since the unit in the basement is inside protected from the elements. You’d expect equipment like that to last at least 40 years. The problem is the unit itself is undersized and, on top of that, the saltwater system had an impact on some of the systems as well, so there’s kind of two elements there that caused the system issues.”
As LaPointe told council, those underlying issues has led to numerous closures of the pool and near misses over the last couple years, including back in January when a rainwater pipe fell from the ceiling into the pool after the metal hangers that connect the pipe to the ceiling broke.
“The reality is there’s two things that troublesome for me,” Mayor Al Strathdee said. “ … One is about the safety (of users) but also, this is being funded from general capital reserve because it was never anticipated (we’d need) repairs at the PRC. So, we’re kicking our asset-management plan down the line in some respect to the tune of $2 million, which is frustrating. … To me, the (pool closure) dates are problematic, but I think it’s the right choice because … we’ve had some near misses and some problems, and I certainly hear all the time, ‘How come the pool is closed again?’
“ … I would commend staff for saying let’s move forward and let’s try to address the problem as best we can.”
The long list of work to be completed at the pool between November and May includes the installation of a new rooftop air-handling unit complete with exterior exposed ductwork and a new gas line; a new remote condensing unit; a new rooftop exhaust fan and associated low-level exhaust; a new high-level exposed aluminum supply duct and mid-return duct routed through existing change-room ceiling space; and a new automated control system. The work also incudes structural reinforcement and repairs, the replacement of sprinkler heads and general cleaning and repainting. While it is a long list, White told councillors he is confident the work will fully solve the issues at hand.
While the pool is closed, director of community services Stephanie Ische said all programming normally held at the aquatics centre, including spring swimming lessons, family swims and Aquafit classes, will be cancelled. In their place, Ische said the town will promote alternative programming like seniors and other exercise programs at the Friendship Centre, EarlyON programming and recreational programming at the youth centre.
Ische said the town may also offer additional programming to offset the loss of the aquatics-centre programming and a plan with timelines for the work being done and the pool’s closure and eventual reopening will be communicated to the public as soon as possible and throughout the project.
“I just really appreciate your support,” LaPointe told councillors. “We’ve enlisted the support of a lot of really smart-minded people like Matt (White), as well as your own staff have been great. It’s been a project that we’ve worked across all the departments – finance, building and development and even public works. We’ve been lucky. You’re correct, there’s been a few near misses that we’re lucky they either happened in the middle of the night or between programs. So that’s something we want to avoid.”
To ensure public safety after the repairs are complete, LaPointe said the town will continue working with DEI engineers, who will conduct regular inspections and safety audits on the pool and its equipment going forward.
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