It looks like Port Hardy will soon be able to swim again.
Port Hardy Mayor Pat Corbett-Labatt was pleased to say the district is currently looking at holding a soft opening for its indoor swimming pool in the near future.
“The contractors are turning the pool over to the district on January 29, and then staff have to be trained,” explained Corbett-Labatt. “We’re hoping [the soft opening] will be held the first week of February, but we need lifeguards and we need staff.”
The mayor then explained the soft opening will only feature water in the pool with no extra amenities included, primarily because “we just want the pool open and to get people swimming.”
Corbett-Labatt stated council is “so excited” to finally finish this years in the making project and to be able to have the indoor swimming pool operational again.
“We’re really looking forward to it being ‘off the books’ so we can move onto another project that we hope the community will really enjoy,” she confirmed.
Port Hardy’s indoor swimming pool is a major contributor to the entire North Island, and its absence has definitely been felt by all areas of the Mount Waddington region.
“We have people calling us from all over asking when the pool is going to be open,” Corbett-Labatt said, noting this is why the district is going to be “applying to the RDMW every year for an operational grant in aid.”
The swimming pool has been closed for much needed repairs ever since June of 2021.
Originally the district had planned to entirely replace the 40+ year old pool with a state of the art multiplex. Refurbishing the pool would have cost around $8.5 million to fully revitalize the entire aquatic centre.
According to the district’s website, government grants would have covered 73.33 per cent of the cost, and residents would have had to pay 26.67 per cent, which is around $2.3 million dollars.
However, after being turned down for funding by the federal and provincial governments, council had to make the decision to move forward with a “Pool Revitalization Project” that would simply upgrade the existing pool.
