3 requests to Mayor and Council regarding the new Crystal Pool

Dear Mayor and Council

I am reaching out with an urgent request for the Crystal Pool and Wellness Centre project. I respectfully request that as you draft final plans, you consider a) building south,  b) building a parkade in the Save-On Memorial parking lot as opposed to in the park and c) forming a joint task force to help find innovative ways to help fund the project and reduce the burden on tax-payers.

I make the request for the following reasons:

a) Building South

1. It is no secret there is a shortage of pool space in Victoria, and further, a shortage of pools in the Capital Regional District. Crystal Pool alone has a 22% space deficit, the downtown YMCA is closing, and McKinnon pool has closed. Building North will leave thousands of residents without a place to manage their health and fitness. Sedentary behaviour leads to a decline in overall health and increases the strain on our strained medical system.

• The best time to teach children to swim is between the ages of 1 and 4. Closing the Crystal Pool for 5 to 6 years will leave a generation of children unable to swim, and at a higher risk of drowning. Children and young adults account for 57% of all drowning deaths. The highest rates of drowning per population are amongst children 0 to 4.

• An 11-year study showed that seniors who exercised six, 30-minute sessions a week were 40% less likely to have died during the study. Crystal Pool and Fitness Centre sees seniors in its waters at all hours of the day. Some swim “leisure” laps, some join adult swim clubs, while others participate in aquafit classes. Many seniors will be impacted in a life-altering way should they not have access to the facility for an extended period.

• We all saw and experienced the impact of limited pools and fitness centres during COVID. Some people have still not returned to their fitness routines putting them at risk of developing life-shortening and costly diseases. Not exercising (or significantly reducing your exercise for 5 years) leads to a decline in muscle mass, reduced cardiovascular fitness, decreased bone density, increased risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes, poorer flexibility, and a general decline in overall physical ability, making even simple daily tasks more difficult. Although many say you can just do something else, swimming pools offer low impact activity for seniors and those with injury. Further, studies have shown that doing a sport you love significantly increases your motivation and likelihood of sticking with the activity.

• It is true that North Park residents will be negatively impacted by the construction in Central Park. It is also true that North Park residents, perhaps in even greater number, will be negatively impacted by the closure of a facility that many of them use. It would be helpful if those who are on the front line of construction were offered a 1 to 2-year free membership in the new facility.

• The Crystal Pool Referendum asked 2 questions. The first was a binding question regarding the borrowing of money and the second was a non-binding question regarding location. Although 6,410 residents did not agree with the borrowing of funds and hence the project going forward, some still selected a preferred location. It is highly likely that those who voted no also voted north, especially knowing that this was heavily encourage by the no campaigns. If you were to concentrate the location results on those who voted yes, the South location is closer to 75% of the votes. This is not to say that that no votes should not be included, but rather that the impact of their inclusion should be considered.

b) Save-On parkade

1. A larger parkade that can accommodate clients from the Pool & Wellness Centre, Royal Athletic Park, the Curling Club, the Save-on Memorial Centre and visitors to downtown. Revenue generated from parking can be used to subsidize the cost of the new facility and reduce the burden on taxpayers.

• The new Wellness Centre is expected to have parking requirements of 262; only 110 spaces are being made available leaving patrons parking on nearby streets. This has a negative impact on North Park residents. A parkade will decrease competitive, unwanted residential street parking.

• When there are multiple events or activities in the neighbourhood (at the Save-on Memorial Centre or Royal Athletic Park, and the Curling Rink), parking for fitness centre clients is significantly impacted. People wanting to use the fitness centre who require parking are often forced to abandon their workouts.

• The new changes to Blanchard Street parking options will deter people from visiting the downtown core and investing in our business community. Having a parkade available at one of the entryways to the city, Quadra Street, may help attract more people to the downtown core.

• Having a parkade on Quadra and Pembrooke in the Save-on Memorial Centre will decrease residential street traffic in North Park generated by people looking for parking. This will make these streets safer, particularly between the hours of 3:00 and 9:00 PM.

c) Joint task force

Revenues from tax is one way to pay for the new Crystal Pool and Wellness Centre however it is not the only way. Over the years, non-profit organizations have found many ways to generate much-needed funds. Some examples include donor walls, charitable bequests, community events, galas, polar-plunges, swim-a-thons and much more. Although each of these alone may not represent significant amounts of funds, combined they can help reduce tax-payer burden. They can also build awareness and increase community engagement.

I encourage the Mayor and Council to work toward a joint taskforce with residents and City staff working together on these possibilities. It might also be helpful to have the task-force work with the city to manage scope-creep driven by project change requests. Having residents participate directly in the project and solutions may create more transparency and increase trust. There are many of us who want to help.

I thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely

Susan Simmons