HRM mum on pool in Mainland Common rec centre plans

By AMY PUGSLEY FRASER City Hall Reporter
After years of community consultations and a few return trips to the drawing board, the city has finally decided on a design for a Mainland Common recreation centre.

But the dimensions of the centre’s highly contentious pool - and its price tag - will remain under wraps pending financing arrangements and council’s approval of the project.

"I can’t say anything," Coun. Russell Walker (Fairview-Clayton Park) said Monday when contacted about the design and the pool dimensions.

The size of the pool - 25 metres long versus 50 metres — has been hotly debated in the community since the centre was proposed almost a decade ago.

The Mainland Common was first identified in a city-commissioned report on community facilities back in 1998. But the proposed facility and the pool inside have morphed a few times since then.

In 2001, a 25-metre pool was part of the plan for the building, which was to be a straight replacement for the aging Northcliffe Centre nearby in Clayton Park.

But Halifax’s bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which got underway in 2002, included a proposal for an Olympic-size 50-metre pool at the centre.

The larger-size pool also won support from a local community group called Build It Right, even though the city said it couldn’t be done with the proposed $14-million price tag for the facility.

Whatever it has decided upon, the city is forging ahead and hopes that the province and Ottawa will jump in too.

"The final design details of the facility and a funding strategy is currently being reviewed with the province and the federal government," Margaret Soley of the city’s facility development department said Monday.

"We’re optimistic that hopefully we’ll be able to present a recommendation to council early this spring."

Regional councillors are also set to award a tender for the site’s preparation work tonight when they meet for their regular weekly meeting.

However, there are no hints in the staff report about what might be on the site. That’s because the prep work has to be done, regardless of the building’s footprint or design, says another local councillor.

"Timing is of the essence," Coun. Debbie Hum (Rockingham-Wentworth) said Monday.

"We can’t wait any longer, because we have to have the (infrastructure) funding spent by March 31 so moving forward with that and getting the site prepared . . . is with regards to that."

She’d like to see the official sod-turning and groundbreaking for the building soon and says the site preparation brings the building a step closer to reality.
The city’s director of community development was also tight-lipped when reached Monday but he did say the city is proud of the design for the new rec centre.

"We think it’s a really good project," Paul Dunphy said Monday.

"But there’s nothing really that we can say about it.

"We want to let council see it first and then the debate begins afterward."

(apugsley@herald.ca)